Shattered
by x Varda x
Summary: Complete! The team are left stranded on a planet with a brutal history of medieval war - complete with knights and swords - and wraith culls that they are about to experience first hand. Paradoxes and serious McKay whump abound!
1. Shattered

Disclaimer - "Stargate" and all related characters are the property of MGM Television Entertainment.

Set after Season 2's 'Epiphany.' I'll also warn that it contains minor spoilers for this episode.

Rated T for violence and gore.

**Chapter 1 - Shattered**

"The MALP we sent through earlier recorded a fairly strong energy reading coming from the vicinity of the Gate." McKay readjusted the P90 attached to his vest and sighed slightly. He still felt uncomfortable with the weight of the gun against his chest, coupled with a rucksack and laptop strapped to his back. He was so weighed down every time they went off-world.

McKay was standing in the Gateroom with Sheppard, Teyla and Ronon. All in full gear. They were waiting for the gate to be dialled. McKay had found a mention of the planet in the Ancient database a few days earlier and had been very eager to go.

* * *

"The database stated that the Ancients were experimenting with the creation of an infinite power source." McKay was visibly very excited to convince Dr Weir and the team to green light the mission.

Sheppard shot McKay a look across the briefing room, "Hopefully not of the solar system destroying kind like last time."

"Ah yes, very funny. That's getting a little old now Colonel." McKay replied with a wry smile. "This power source is Zed PM based. There is only a small amount of information in the database, and apparently the research was abandoned when the Wraith attacked and drove the Ancients from the planet ten thousand years ago."

Dr Weir pressed her hands together at the fingertips with her elbows resting on the table. "How do we know that the research wasn't destroyed when the Wraith attacked? How do we know that the Ancients didn't take the research with them when they left?"

"Well there's only one way to find out. Let's send a MALP through and take a look. You have to admit that we have nothing to lose from carrying out an investigation."

Teyla joined in, trying to sway Dr Weir's decision. "It would be a good idea to look into any new power source. We do not know when the Wraith may attack Atlantis again. I believe we should visit this planet."

Dr Weir looked across at Ronon who had been silent until now. "Yes sounds fine. Are there any people there?"

"As far as I can tell from the database, there were some humans there when the Wraith attacked. Whether they're still there I don't know." McKay gave a questioning look at Dr Weir. His case finished, he waited for a decision.

The whole team were looking at her expectantly. "Okay. I'll ask a technician to prepare a MALP to go through the gate. Meet up in the control room in two hours."

* * *

The Gateroom filled with the familiar hiss and click as each chevron locked into place on the gate. With a loud whoosh the wormhole formed.

"Okay, let's go." Sheppard moved towards the gate followed by Teyla, McKay and Ronon at the back of the group.

They came out on the other side. The sky of the planet was almost black with storm clouds above giving the planet an eerie twilight hue. There were ruined buildings surrounding the gate and stretching off into the distance in all directions. Nothing was above one storey high and the larger structures were just shells of bricks and metal. Just as the telemetry from the MALP had provided a few hours earlier, the air was at a comfortable temperature, but it was fairly thin and dusty from where the wind picked up ashes and small debris from the ground. There were no plants anywhere and the team were surrounded by myriad shades of brown and grey.

"The photos sent by the MALP didn't do it justice." McKay said sarcastically as he came through the gate and took a quick look at the sky and then the rubble around them.

"It's the Wraith, I've seen it before. They destroyed everything." Ronon was looking around to make sure nothing was going to jump out from behind any of the rubble. "It is daytime, right?"

"I think so, McKay?" Sheppard looked round at the scientist, who was frowning at the scanner in his hand.

"That's strange." McKay spoke without looking up or acknowledging that Sheppard had asked a question.

"What is it Doctor McKay?" Teyla moved towards him to glance over his shoulder at the scanner.

McKay looked up at the rest of the team and shifted uncomfortably. "It's difficult to localise the source of the energy readings. One moment they're in one place, then they disappear and then they're all around us."

Sheppard started to head off away from the gate. "Maybe we should have a look round. The gate's probably interfering with the readings."

"Wait a moment Colonel." McKay held up his hand, his eyes still fixed on the scanner, and pointed around behind the gate, off into the distance. "I suggest we walk in this direction. When the energy reading stays still in one location, it's always over there."

"Okay." Sheppard spun on his heels and stalked off in the direction McKay had pointed. The rest of the team followed. McKay still had a puzzled look across his face and checked the scanner every few seconds in between looking ahead to avoid tripping over all the debris.

They walked in silence for a while, allowing their eyes to adjust to the dim light and to concentrate on not falling over. Ronon was walking behind McKay keeping an eye on the scientist. He was so engrossed by the shifting and flickering power readings on the scanner that he stumbled a few times and had to be saved by Ronon from falling right down.

After a few minutes, Teyla became a little uneasy. "How long ago do you think the Wraith were here?" She asked no one in particular.

McKay replied, "There's no way of knowing without further study of the ruins. I'd estimate centuries at least." He was cautiously keeping an eye on a structure to his right. It was composed of several metal bars sticking up into the air at lethal angles. Whatever the purpose of the building had been; the shell was long gone and the bars showed a frame which had once, long ago, been supporting a building several storeys high.

* * *

A few hours later they cleared the edge of the ruined buildings and came to a large uneven patch of ground. It may have been a field before the Wraith came and burned the surface of the planet. Now all that is was was hard packed scorched mud, dirt and dust stretching off into the distance. The swirling ash in the air made it difficult to see very far. Now that haunted ruins weren't obscuring his line of sight. Sheppard thought that he could make out the faint outlines of mountains many miles away.

The team scrambled over the uneven surface to reach the source of the readings. Occasionally McKay would point them back on course to the power readings as they strayed away from a direct route to find an easier was to traverse the field.

After an hour or so of cursing and tripping McKay let out a triumphant cry, "Look, over there!"

He was pointing to a large yellow dome, which they could now see beyond the next rise. It seemed to glow as light radiated from every wall. The dome was startling and fairly garish against the darkness of the ruins and parched earth. It was unmarked by the calamities which had befallen this world. It looked completely out of place.

"It appears to be surrounded by a forcefield." McKay advised as he grabbed his laptop out of his bag and moved towards a panel on the side of the dome.

"Any idea how to get in?" Sheppard asked, still keeping a wary eye behind them as he made his way over to McKay.

"Working on it!" He replied sounding annoyed as he plugged a lead from his laptop into the panel.

McKay began to type as Ronon, Sheppard and Teyla stood by covering him and making sure nothing assailed them. Ronon looked thoroughly bored. "This is fun."

McKay looked up and shot a scathing look at Ronon. "We're not here for your entertainment. There are no life signs so I don't know why you're all crowded round me like you have to defend me against the huge amounts of nothing left on this world."

Sheppard laid a hand on Ronon's back, "Come on, let's go and have a look around while McKay works. Teyla, stay here."

Once they were alone, Teyla asked, "Rodney, do you think the dome is of the Ancestors?"

McKay was a little less irritated now that he wasn't so surrounded. "Probably. They are the only race we know about who could create shields to dispel Wraith weaponry."

He looked up at Teyla from his laptop. "I think I'm done. Let's see if this shows us a way in." He pressed a button on the screen and a door silently opened next to the control panel. It had been completely seamless and invisible on the sloped wall.

McKay reached up and tapped his radio, "Colonel, we've found a way in."

_"We'll be back in a minute. It's the same all the way round. There are no more control panels or anything that looks like a door."_

McKay shifted impatiently from foot to foot while he peered through the door at a long and well lit corridor with another door at the end. Teyla eyed him with a look torn between pity and exasperation.

"Relax Rodney. The structure has obviously survived for many years and I believe that it will continue to do so for the next few minutes."

Sheppard rounded the opposite side of the dome from the one they had started from, with Ronon on his heels. They had skirted the whole perimeter.

"What've you got Rodney?" Sheppard asked when they were in earshot.

"I got this door open, but there's a shield around the structure which the scanner can't penetrate."

"Alright, let's check it out." Sheppard looked at the rest of the team, "Teyla stay out here, I'll take point, Ronon you've got our back."

McKay looked from Sheppard to Ronon to Teyla, "Colonel, I don't think it's dangerous." His eyes widened slightly with fear, "Is it?"

"You said so yourself. The scanner can't tell us what's inside that building." Sheppard stated calmly as he walked through the opening and started along the corridor.

McKay sighed and followed him in with Ronon behind.

They reached the end of the dazzling corridor. It was almost painfully bright after their eyes had adjusted to the dull light outside on the planet. The door opened automatically and they stepped through.

They entered a large round room with several closed doors around the edge. The room was about twenty metres in diameter and as brightly lit and yellow as the corridor they had just walked through. The ceiling was a convex dome, just as it appeared from outside. In the centre of the room was a cylinder of swirling and shimmering green and blue light. It was like a shield but there were mesmerising patterns forming and constantly shifting across the surface. Hundreds of thick black cables hung down from the ceiling and fed into the top of the device. There was a bank of control panels surrounding the base of the cylinder along with many more black cables, which disappeared into the floor.

"That's interesting." Stated McKay, who stood still and unblinking as he stared at the device, his laptop forgotten in his hands. Sheppard was also looking at the swirling patterns with a blank expression on his face.

"What is it?" Asked Ronon, who seemed oblivious to the hypnotic powers of the colours of the device. He noticed that the other two had ignored him, so he grabbed the back of McKay and Sheppard's vests and yanked them away so that they were no longer facing the shield.

"Hey hey hey! I was looking at that." Protested McKay as he nearly fell over backwards.

"Seemed like you were looking at it for too long." Ronon released his grip and helped McKay find his balance again.

Sheppard, who had kept his feet better than McKay, looked at Ronon, "I'm not sure what happened. It's just so interesting the way the patterns are formed and destroyed constantly." He then looked at McKay while being careful to make sure the device did not enter his line of sight. "Are you getting any readings Rodney? Can you interface with one of those control panels over there?"

"It would be easier if I didn't have to look at it. I'm sure Ronon will be able to remind me to keep working if it happens again."

McKay turned and keeping his eyes firmly diverted from the shield, he walked towards the device. Ronon followed him to make sure the scientist did not go into another trance. Sheppard kept his back to the device and walked towards the door they had come through. It was still open and he kept his eyes fixed on the long corridor. When he reached it, he stopped and stood guard.

McKay reached one of the control panels and plugged his laptop in. He felt his will wavering as he began to lose the battle to keep his eyes away from the device. He lifted up his left arm and used his hand to protect his eyes from drifting back towards the blue and green patterns. It was like he was blocking his gaze from bright sunlight on his face.

"Hmmm." McKay stated, his eyes rapidly scanned across the screen of his laptop as data flashed and scrolled across it. "This seems to be some kind of data storage device." He pointed his hand at the panel where his laptop was plugged in. "It holds massive amounts of information about this facility and the history of the planet."

"What about the device?" Ronon asked gruffly.

"Getting there." McKay still had one hand across his forehead to keep his eyes downcast. He used his free hand to tap the screen several times. "It's all downloading onto the laptop. Ah, here we go."

The scrolling data on the screen stopped so that he could read more slowly. His eyes flickered across the lines of text and then widened as he got towards the end.

"That's incredible, amazing!" He turned around to face Ronon, who still stood immediately behind him, and Sheppard in the doorway. He lowered his arm from his head down to his side. "Colonel, do you remember your trip through the portal where time was dilated to flow faster than we experienced outside the field?"

"How could I forget?" Sheppard replied dryly from the door.

"This device takes time dilation to a whole new level we've never seen before. It seems to be some kind of quantum stasis field." McKay's voice was fast and he was waving his hands around in excitement.

"Quantum?" Ronon asked.

McKay crossed his arms over his chest in annoyance. "Time. It's an Ancient time device. Guess what's in the centre powering it and this whole complex." McKay uncrossed his arms and circled his hands to indicate the room where they were standing, but didn't give them a chance to answer. "A fully charged Zed PM!"

Sheppard shifted slightly forward at this announcement. "That's great. Is there a way to safely deactivate the field and retrieve the ZPM?"

"Yes. I just need to pull the plug and then the Zed PM will be ours."

"You're sure you know what you're doing? We don't want to be stuck here for the rest of our lives, while Atlantis only thinks we've been gone for an hour." Sheppard was glad he couldn't look over towards McKay as he spoke, but could picture the look on his face.

McKay folded his arms again. "I'll just have another look at the schematic, but from my initial review it seems to be just a matter of flipping a few switches on the control panels."

"Okay. If you can do it, go ahead. If you're even slightly unsure though, we should head back and take more time to review the data. We can then return in the future to grab the ZPM."

"I'm not going to leave a perfect, fully charged Zed PM behind. The Wraith or anyone could detect it and come and steal it before we have the chance. I don't think I need to remind you how important power is for the survival of this mission."

Ronon just shrugged and followed McKay back to the centre of the room. McKay once again lifted his hand to cover his eyes, so that he could only see the floor and a short distance in front of him. Ronon looked into the vortex of greens and blues on the shield. He could not see anything behind it, but if McKay said there was a ZPM he was in favour; they desperately needed the extra power to fight and defend themselves against the Wraith.

McKay studied the laptop and began pressing buttons and moving dials around on the control panel. After a few minutes there was a loud swishing sound as the shield grew dim and them faded out entirely. Just as McKay said, there was a ZPM resting in the centre of where the shield had just disappeared. McKay reached across and grabbed it from it's housing. It glowed brilliant orange in his hands for a moment, but as the last of the shield vanished, it dimmed and became black and inert. As the power source had been disrupted, the team were plunged into darkness.

"What happened?" Sheppard shouted across the room. He had raised his P90 and clicked on the light, making his way over to where McKay stood with Ronon.

"I don't know! It was fully charged a minute ago." McKay was frowning at his laptop. Suddenly the screen went red and flashing warnings began to roll across it. "No no no no no!"

"What is it?" Asked Ronon.

"I'm detecting a build up of energy. It's in a spectrum I've never seen before. It may have something to do with the time device rather than the removal of the Zed PM. Uh oh!"

"What is it McKay?" Sheppard struggled to read the screen of the laptop upside down.

"It's gonna blow!" McKay shouted frantically waving his hands in panic in the general direction of the device where he had just removed the ZPM.

Sheppard shone the light into McKay's face and saw a look of terror in eyes, which while familiar to him, seemed to be more fearful than even the perpetually afraid scientist had previously been able to generate.

"How can it? There's no power. Are you sure?" Sheppard asked calmly as McKay grabbed his laptop and the recently liberated ZPM and crammed them into his rucksack. His hands shaking so much he could hardly do the zip up.

"I don't know how, but I swear it is!" McKay's voice began to break in rising panic. "We don't want to be anywhere near it when it goes. Although I don't know what's causing it, the blast will hopefully not be Zed PM sized. Nevertheless I'm sure it will be very unpleasant. It's probably something to do with shutting down the stasis field."

"Can't you just put the ZPM back in place?" Asked Ronon.

"No! There isn't enough time, and I doubt it would work anyway." McKay slung his rucksack onto his back and headed for the exit.

"Okay guys, let's go." Sheppard gave McKay benefit of the doubt. A steady high-pitched whining sound had begun. He believed McKay could be right. It was growing louder and sounded like an overload of some kind was in progress.

Sheppard clicked his radio, "Teyla, we're moving out. McKay just told us there's a chance the dome may explode."

_"Understood Colonel."_

The team ran through the dark corridor and out the front of the domed building. The shield had been lowered as soon as McKay removed the ZPM, so there was nothing left to contain the blast. Teyla joined them as they ran away from the complex as fast as possible.

The rough and uneven ground hindered the progress of the team to get away from the building, and everyone was stumbling as they ran and tripped over the rocks and hidden potholes.

Ronon was behind McKay and caught him as he nearly went flying after his left ankle twisted on a curved boulder.

"Ow ow ow!" He gasped, but kept running with a slight limp. Ronon ran on in front to catch up with Sheppard, as Teyla stayed behind to help McKay.

The whine was now so loud they could hear it outside the building. It continued to grow as they put as much distance as they could between themselves and the dome.

Then suddenly the noise was silenced. McKay turned to look back at the dome in curiosity. It was now dull and brown like the rest of the planet.

"Come on Doctor McKay. I believe you did say to the others that it was going to explode." Teyla had also turned when the abrupt silence descended. Ronon and Sheppard were several hundred metres away negotiating a large ditch in the field and were oblivious to the fact that McKay and Teyla had stopped.

A strange sense of calm and peace descended and McKay held his breath facing the structure.

Suddenly a brilliant and blinding flash of blue and green light rippled out from the dome and disbursed in an ever expanding and all encompassing wave. It washed over the field and went through McKay and Teyla with no physical effect on them. This was followed by a bone jarring bang, which ripped through the roof of the dome, tearing it into massive fireballs of metal and rock which flew out in all directions at high speed.

McKay didn't have time to throw himself to the ground as he had been trained to do during an explosion. He had been so mesmerised by the rippling field of light. The blast hit him and he was lifted off his feet at the same time as he was showered with hundreds of shards of metal, debris and fire from what had once been the only remaining structure still standing in this desolate wasteland. He felt himself falling backwards and the whole world faded into darkness before he was aware of hitting the ground.

* * *

"_What's that strange noise?"_ Thought Rodney as he began to fade back into a state of semi-consciousness. It sounded like a kettle boiling_. "Perhaps a kettle from hell?"_

He kept his eyes closed and was dimly aware that he was pinned to the ground by something. He tried to recall what had happened, but there was no memory. Only darkness.

Now there was pain.

It blossomed across his whole torso and crushed upon his chest. He tried to breathe, but there was a wheeze and rattling sound from his lungs. He was only able to get enough air to keep from passing out again.

Rodney opened his eyes slowly and tried not to cough. If he didn't breathe too deeply he was able to prevent the catching sensation in his throat and down into his chest.

He gasped more in shock, than in pain as he looked around. He saw that he seemed to be lying in a war zone of some kind. Several fires and pieces of rock and metal surrounded him. He could not see anyone else nearby. The sky was clear blue and the sun shone down on him, as he lay immobile and wracked in agony. He discerned several Wraith darts in the distance, but they kept away from the area where he was lying prone. They were the source of the noise that had brought him back. He longed to be unconscious again. The painless darkness had been bliss in comparison to this agony.

He gritted his teeth and lifted his head up slightly from the ground to look down at himself. He wished that he hadn't. The pain crescendoed to an almost unbearable level when he saw a metal pole impaled in his left side. It was driven deeply into him and was the reason why he couldn't move. It stuck up in the air several feet above him at an angle so that he hadn't seen it the moment he woke up.

Rodney tried to flex his fingers and found to his increasing horror that he could only feel his right arm. He moved it across to the base of the pole where it cruelly pierced through his abdomen. It was stuck fast, but there didn't seem to be very much blood around it. The pressure had probably sealed it in place.

"Small mercy," McKay said out loud in a whimper as he moved his hand away. His breath was now coming in shallow gasps. He closed his eyes and breathed through the pain. His lungs and ribs protesting with every shuddering breath. The pain didn't diminish. "I have to know. I have to know." He muttered through clenched teeth and tilted his head back towards the ground with his eyes screwed tightly shut. He moved his hand round underneath his back and tried to feel whether the pole had gone right through.

He opened his eyes wide with shock when he felt the cold and sticky metal in his palm. _"Oh crap! I'm in trouble here," _he thought and glided his hand down the pole. It was driven into the ground too. He wasn't going anywhere. After he felt the ground, his hand came away covered in an unpleasant muddy goo.

"Blood!" he thought, he felt cold, "My blood."

Suddenly the memories all came rushing back; the ruins, the dark sky, the dome and the ZPM. McKay glanced bleary eyed at the sun and clear sky. After the destruction they had seen there was no way this planet would ever be sunny again after what the Wraith had done.

"_That's very strange,"_ thought Rodney, _"Why is the sky now clear? What are the Wraith doing here? There is no human population to cull."_

He was in too much pain to be able to think and consider answers to the questions.

"_Where are Sheppard, Teyla and Ronon?"_ He felt an emotional pang of guilt in his heart in the midst of the physical trauma he was suffering. _"Did they survive the explosion or are they lying dead or seriously injured away from me somewhere?"_

His eyes began to dim and he became aware of another approaching ripple of blue and green light. It passed through him as the world went black and he knew no more.

* * *

A/N – I was going to leave out this chapter and skip straight to the next one. I thought the whole story would be too confusing without it and I love a bit of the whump as much as the next person ;)


	2. Cloudless Rain

Disclaimer - "Stargate" and all related characters are the property of MGM Television Entertainment.

The strangeness begins…

**Chapter 2 – Cloudless Rain**

McKay was seated and stared at his laptop impatiently. After a few moments he looked up and peered down into the Gateroom where someone was double checking the MALP. He sighed and went back to studying the database entry he had found. It had not been very hard to convince Dr Weir that they should go to this planet. Any hint of a new power source always presented it's fair share of excitement and hope. He only wished that just for once, the feelings would not be in vain.

The database entry held, as usual, a woefully inadequate amount of information. It had a gate address and a few cryptic sentences about an experiment that was abandoned when the Wraith approached and forced the Ancients to retreat to defend Atlantis. The Ancients also recorded that there was a small human settlement, but there was no hint as to whether they were evacuated with the Ancients or whether they were forced to stay behind.

"We're ready Doctor Weir," the tech announced from next to the MALP.

Weir was standing next to McKay, "Are you ready Rodney?"

"Hold on," he pressed a few keys and the database entry disappeared to be replaced with several blank boxes set up to receive and analyse the MALP telemetry when it came back. "Yes. Go ahead."

"Dial it up." Weir said.

Another tech next to McKay and Weir hammered the gate symbols until the wormhole formed.

The tech who had been preparing the MALP ran up the stairs and settled himself in a seat behind McKay and Weir. The MALP slowly rolled towards the event horizon and disappeared.

"We're receiving data," McKay pressed a key and the display panel in the control room flashed up with a grainy video feed.

They could see straight away that it was so dark it appeared to be almost night time. The tech changed the image to night vision and they were then able to see that there was a huge amount of rubble and building shells around the gate.

Weir asked the tech, "Pan round please."

The image began moving horizontally. It revealed nothing new, just more rubble.

"Do you have anything Rodney?" Weir asked looking away from the video feed and down at him.

"The atmosphere is thin, but breathable. I wouldn't recommend spending too long there though." A smile flashed across his face, "I'm also detecting an energy signature, although I can't localize it using just the MALP sensors."

"What about life signs?" Weir asked. She was looking slightly relieved. Hopefully this would be 'the one' and she felt some of the weight lifting off her chest. Being responsible for so many lives. She wished they had more protection from the Wraith.

"I'm not reading any, but the energy signal could be disrupting the data stream."

Weir straightened up, "Okay, I think this is well worth checking out. Get geared up and I'll ask Colonel Sheppard, Teyla and Ronon to meet you by the gate in half an hour."

The gate shut down and McKay unplugged his laptop and had to fight to restrain himself from running to get ready to leave and investigate the planet.

* * *

Now standing in the Gateroom in full gear, Sheppard looked over at McKay and felt a slight pang of pity for the scientist. He watched as McKay absent-mindedly fiddled with his P90, trying to shift it into a more comfortable position on his vest. He was the only one of the team not military trained. He had not had to endure endless training sessions running with a heavy pack and gun. Yet he always seemed to be the most heavily loaded member of the team whenever they went through the gate.

Sheppard thought, _"I suppose it means we are free to protect him properly as we have less restrictions on our speed and movement."_

McKay had just told them about the results they received from the MALP earlier and the energy readings.

"Okay, let's go." Sheppard said. _"I wonder if it's possible to die from over excitement,"_ he thought and felt a small smile spreading across his face as he walked through the gate.

The team stepped through the gate and were greeted by the half light and utter devastation of the planet.

"The photos sent by the MALP didn't do it justice." McKay said.

The gate behind them shut down, plunging them into further darkness.

"It's the Wraith, I've seen it before. They destroyed everything." Ronon gruffly added, "It is daytime, right?"

"I think so, McKay?" Sheppard looked round at the scientist, who had a look of abject terror upon his face.

McKay looked at the scanner in his hand and then lifted it up so that Sheppard could see the screen. Although he could not understand the readings, he did notice that the screen was red. Something was very wrong. McKay was staring at the Colonel.

"There's a massive build up of energy forming. It started as soon as we stepped through the gate," his voice shaking slightly he continued, "It seems to be coming from over there." He pointed behind the gate. "It's growing in size and rapidly approaching our position. I suggest we get back to Atlantis before it hits us. I'm unfamiliar with the type of energy the scanner is detecting and I'm not sure what effect it would have on us."

Sheppard ran down from the gate platform and over to the DHD. He didn't see the edge of the wave as it approached but only noticed because all around them the world was changing.

Brown dust and dirt was being replaced with grass and flowers. The ruined buildings disappeared and where they had once covered the ground, trees appeared. The most incredible change was the sky. As the wave progressed it created a line across the sky as it changed dark swirling clouds into dazzling blue and sunshine.

He had only pressed two symbols when the energy wave washed over them. To Sheppard's horror the gate and DHD shimmered out of existence and long grass appeared, swaying in mockery at them as they all stood helplessly by.

Even Ronon had a look of surprise as he asked, "What happened?"

"I… don't know," McKay spluttered in reply. He looked up from his scanner and eyed the team warily. "There are several possibilities. We could have shifted to another dimension, shifted in space or shifted in time." His eyes widened, "Or perhaps we're unconscious somewhere and this is just a hallucination."

"Like that hasn't happened before," Sheppard muttered. He looked thoroughly put out and still had his hand hovering where the DHD stood seconds before, ready to press the symbols. He slowly lowered it. "Well which one is it Rodney? Surely you can eliminate at least one of them. Are we on the same planet?"

"It's difficult to tell as the surrounding landscape was so hazy when we stepped through the gate. I am however detecting several life signs and a faint energy reading. They are still coming from the same direction relative to where the gate was a couple of minutes ago."

Teyla said, "I believe it would a good idea to visit these people. They may be able to explain what just happened."

Sheppard looked between his teammates and then over in the direction McKay had pointed earlier, "Okay. There's nothing more we can do at the moment."

* * *

Teyla knew their situation was dire; if they were unable to figure out what had happened they could be stranded. The sun was warm on her face and she could not help smiling slightly as they walked. She had been expecting to be saving McKay from falling over debris every few seconds when they got to the planet. She looked over at him as he walked alongside her. He was not stumbling even though he was ignoring his feet and staring at the scanner still in his hand. He had a small frown across his forehead as his brain ticked over; trying to think of a solution.

McKay looked up from his scanner in the direction they were walking. "There's another energy wave approaching. It's smaller than the first one."

They all stopped and raised their P90s in preparation. None of them knew what changes might happen around them this time.

The landscape and sky stayed the same as they were, but it began to rain. Really heavy, driving rain.

"What the hell happened?" Sheppard shouted above the noise of the water.

"I still don't know Colonel," McKay snapped back. He shivered, as they had all been drenched to the skin in seconds after the rain started.

Teyla peeled her hair away from her forehead and looked around. She felt a sinking sensation of shock and dread as she looked up at the clear blue sky still above them. "Where is this rain coming from?" She asked, "There are no clouds in the sky."

The others, who had been looking at the ground to avoid the pounding rain in their eyes, all looked up as Teyla spoke.

"This is bad. This is very bad" McKay muttered. He lifted his hands and tried to clear the water from his assaulted eyes as he looked back down. The water was streaming over him in a torrent.

Sheppard and Ronon did not look too bothered by the rain, but just a little confused. Sheppard asked, "Does this eliminate any of the possible scenarios? If someone is messing with us, I reckon they would have made themselves known by now. Unless they've disguised themselves as you guys."

McKay looked over at him, water dripping from his nose, "I assure you Colonel, as much as I don't want to be here, I am. And no, I still don't know what's going on."

Ronon asked, "Why don't we keep moving? Let's speak with the people in the settlement."

They made slow progress through the rain as the ground was now slippery and water logged.

After a few minutes McKay held up his hand to halt them, "Uh oh! Here we go again," was all he said as another energy wave washed over them.

* * *

The rain abruptly stopped and all around them magnificent buildings were materialising. The team were now standing in a medieval square, complete with a market along one side selling food and clothing. The buildings around the edges of the square were painted either white or pastel yellow and were all two storeys high. Broad beams criss-crossed the front of each one and led upwards to support a thatched roof. Many people were milling around and did not immediately notice the four soaked and strangely clad people who just appeared.

"Sonarans!" Someone shouted. It was a shout of hatred and fear, rather than one of greeting.

There was a series of loud clanking noises, which grew louder as the gathering crowd parted.

"Oh no, it's the Knights of the Round Table." McKay muttered as ten heavily armed and armoured knights ran up to them brandishing lethal looking swords.

They all backed together as the metal covered knights surrounded them.

Sheppard had his P90 raised and held out his free hand in a placating gesture. "Come on guys. We're not Sonarans. We don't know who the Sonarans are. We're just visiting and were hoping you could help us."

McKay hadn't had time to raise his P90 as he hastily stuffed the scanner into one of his pockets. He deeply regretted it, because one of the knights now had a sword tip pressed savagely against his stomach.

"You are Sonarans and have come to kill us in order to gain control of The Forge!" The knight tormenting McKay stated. "Tell us how many more traitors to Abyss and Sobyxia have come!"

McKay gasped as the pressure from the sword increased. He felt a warm trickle forming around the point of the blade.

"Answer now or I will gut you where you stand!" The knight shouted.

* * *

A/N - A double cliffhanger you cry! My apologies, but all will begin to be revealed next chapter. If you want to know how I'm going to fix this mess (fear not – it's all mapped out). Clicky button below. Ta!


	3. Abyss

Disclaimer - "Stargate" and all related characters are the property of MGM Television Entertainment.

You may think the paradox comment was an excuse for nothing to make sense, but it will hopefully start coming together in this chapter!

**Chapter 3 - Abyss**

The warmth of the sun was rapidly drying out the four figures who stood dripping and shivering surrounded by a medieval nightmare. The knights did not waver and waited for their next command.

McKay grimaced as a circle of fiery pain emanated from the point where the blade was sticking into him. He wondered how much further it had to go before it ruptured one of his internal organs. He kept as still as possible and glared at the knight.

His tormentor was still waiting for a reply and did not decrease the pressure. Teyla heard McKay's pained noise and had turned to train her P90 on the man with his sword tip embedded in McKay's stomach. Water from the downpour, which had only ceased moments ago for them, dripped from her hair. She did not want to fire as there was no way of knowing how thick the metal was and it did look quite sturdy. The risk of ricochet if the knights were fully protected was too high. If they fired and it had no effect, they would be cut down where they stood.

One of the knights on the other side spoke, "Ibex, I do not think these people are Sonarans. They are dressed in a manner unbefitting to the people of Soon."

The man holding McKay on the point of his sword seemed to calm down slightly. He kept the sword in the same place, but reached up with a gauntlet clad hand and raised his visor. He had a hard expression and his face had several nasty scars, probably caused by weapons of the same kind he and his companions were wielding. He allowed his eyes to look McKay up and down and then spent a moment in thought. His expression softened, "I believe you may be right. Sonarans would have attacked us on sight and not tried to talk to us."

He pulled his sword out of McKay but kept it ready in his hand, "Stand down men," he ordered. McKay swayed slightly as he saw the red tip of the blade. Teyla placed her free hand on his chest to keep him steady. He moved his hand down to check his injury and was not surprised when it came away with a small amount of blood in the palm. The colour drained out of his face and he shuddered.

"You okay Rodney?" Asked Sheppard, he still had his P90 trained on the knights. They had backed away slightly.

"If tin can man had kept his pointy metal stick to himself I'd be feeling a lot better." McKay grimaced and pressed his hand back against his middle to try and stop the bleeding.

Beyond the ring of knights around the team, a large crowd had been gathering to see what was going on.

Teyla turned to the man who had hurt McKay, Ibex, and asked, "Who are you and who are the Sonarans?"

Ibex looked surprised but answered in a proud and haughty voice, "We are Ibyxians, the noble protectors of this great city of Abyss."

He suddenly became angry that he had to answer the other part of the question, "The Sonarans come from a city not far from here, Soon. They are the enemy. They constantly assail us and try to gain control of The Forge. We have lost countless lives in defence of The Forge and The Vortex."

"Praise to The Vortex," the other knights around them replied in unison.

Ronon did not look at Ibex, as he and Sheppard still had their guns trained on the other knights behind McKay and Teyla, "What's The Forge and The Vortex?" He asked.

"You are truly not of this land. The Forge is where we are able to create our armour and weaponry. It is a ceaseless engine of fire, whose heat protected us many centuries ago from the onslaught of the sky demons. It continues to protect us this day. Whoever controls The Forge will survive when the demons return. The Vortex is the most sacred area of The Forge. I have never seen it, but it is told that it is a beautiful fountain of ever shifting blue and green light. It stands in the centre of The Forge and all things there are linked to it."

Teyla thought about his words, "Sky demons? He must mean the Wraith."

Sheppard said, "The Forge is probably the source of the energy signature we've been tracking."

McKay still looked very pale, but he replied, "That would make sense. Which direction is The Forge?"

"It is through Abyss and beyond several fields over there." Ibex pointed in the direction the team had been headed all along.

McKay brightened at this, "I knew it!" He reached into his pocket, ignoring the advance of Ibex, and pulled out his scanner. "Yes, the energy reading is still present. We need to investigate the place these people call 'The Forge.'" He looked up from the scanner at Ibex.

Ibex was looking at the scanner in McKay's hand with his eyes wide and shocked. He then looked up into McKay's eyes and announced loudly, "You carry magic from The Forge. You have finally returned to deliver us from the Sonarans! Praise The Vortex!"

"Praise The Vortex!" Came a shouted reply from all the knights and some of the Ibyxians in the crowd who were craning to see around the circle of knights to see what the fuss was about.

The knights all suddenly sheathed their swords and knelt down with their faces pointed to the ground.

"Okay, that's a new one," Sheppard said warily as he watched. Many of the people in the crowd beyond the knights also knelt down.

Teyla spoke, "We need to get to The Forge. Will you assist us?"

Ibex, still looking down answered, "We would be greatly honoured to come to your aid in your quest. You saved us in the time of legend and your deeds are not forgotten even though it was countless centuries ago."

Ibex rose up and all the others followed his lead, "Let us tend to your friend, I am ashamed to admit I caused him such hurt as I mistook him for an enemy." He indicated to McKay as six of the knights walked away back into the crowd. That left the team with four knights, one for each of them.

Sheppard turned and lowered his P90, satisfied that the situation had been defused. He looked at McKay, "I think he'll be okay. Although he will try to make you believe that a splinter could kill him sometimes."

Teyla looked at McKay's face and saw the pale expression, he was also unusually quiet, "I think this may be more serious than a splinter. I think that he is in shock."

At this, McKay faltered again and finally passed out and fell onto the ground. He did not hit it as hard as he could have, because Teyla was ready and caught him as he fell. The scanner he had been holding, flew out of his hand and clattered along the paving, where the screen went dark.

* * *

The knights all lifted their visors and helped the team carry McKay into one of the nearby houses. The house was fairly plain inside. There were a few chairs, a table and a bed. They laid him down gently on the bed and raised his feet to alleviate the shock. They then removed his vest and shirt and tied a bandage around his midriff where there was a nasty cut. Sheppard had been right; it was not very serious. It had bled a lot, but the bleeding had already stopped before they applied the bandage.

After they were satisfied McKay was resting comfortably, Ibex approached Sheppard, who was keeping watch from the doorway of the house. "The Forge is hallowed ground. Only our most trusted scholars and historians are allowed access. Unless the sky demons come. I myself am not allowed in there either. I'm sure that they will make a special allowance for you to go."

Ibex had removed his helmet and was quite at ease in his armour, even though it looked very heavy and cumbersome. "I can escort you to the entrance. Then it will be up to you to get inside."

"That's great," Sheppard answered. He was almost completely dry now after the drenching he received earlier. The air was warm and the sun shone down brightly onto the square outside the window.

Sheppard continued, "I don't suppose you've seen a Stargate anywhere around here have you?"

Ibex gazed back blankly, "What is a Stargate?"

Teyla had been listening as she sat in a chair next to McKay, "It is a portal to other worlds. They are also known as Rings of the Ancestors."

Ibex still looked like he was unsure what they were talking about.

Sheppard tried to explain, "It's a large ring, sort of dark purple in colour with symbols around the edge. If you press the buttons on a device nearby, a blue portal appears. It looks like water."

Ibex shook his head, "I have not heard of such a thing. However, the scholars of The Forge hold much information and may be able to help you with what you seek."

Ronon stood in the corner of the room furthest away from the door out onto the square. He was keeping a wary eye on the three knights who had remained outside the front of the building. Ibex was the only one who had entered with the team.

McKay groaned and moved a hand across his front to where the bandage was tied. Teyla leaned over, "How are you Doctor McKay?"

He kept his eyes closed, "Uh… Did I just get skewered by a bunch of epic medieval movie rejects?"

"Do not worry Rodney. The injury is minor, you collapsed from shock and we helped you here."

McKay slowly opened his eyes and looked around the room. He saw Teyla looking down at him in concern. He fully opened his eyes and moved his legs off the block they had been resting on. He then carefully sat up wincing as the movement tugged the bandage around his middle. His hand was still pressed on it. Teyla grabbed him by the shoulders to steady him as he got up and shook slightly.

Sheppard had been watching with Ibex. Ronon glanced over a few times and then returned to staring at the knights and Ibex. He knew McKay was probably exaggerating. The others had let their guards down. Ronon would not forget how they had been threatened and how Ibex had been so ready to kill McKay without provocation.

Sheppard asked, "Are you ready to move out? The sooner we figure out what's going on around here, the sooner we can leave."

"Ah right, you mean the sooner _I_ can figure it out." McKay walked over and grabbed his vest and P90 from a nearby table and grimaced as he put them on. He reached over for his rucksack, but Sheppard stopped him.

"Don't worry, I'll carry it." Sheppard picked up the bag and slung it onto his back. He turned to Ibex, "Okay, we're all set. Show us the way to The Forge."

Ibex put his helmet back on, but kept the visor up. "Wait a moment."

He walked out the front door of the house and spoke with the other three guards. He then peered back into the house, "Follow us."

Ibex and one the other knights started to walk across the square. Teyla, McKay and Sheppard followed with Ronon at the rear. The other two knights went behind Ronon. Ronon turned round every few seconds to check that the knights behind were not going to stab anyone in the back. After the first few glances, the knights figured it out and allowed a little more room between themselves and the rest of the group. They could see the wariness and mistrust in Ronon's eyes and did not want to stay too close.

McKay was able to walk with ease after a few minutes. He even lowered his hand every now and again to surreptitiously check his scanner. He was careful not to let any of the locals see it again. He did not want a repeat of the kneeling incident in the square earlier. Sheppard walked up beside him.

He quietly asked, so that none of the guards could hear him, "How are you feeling Rodney?

"Great, I feel just peachy!" McKay sarcastically replied a hint of bitterness in his voice. "We're surrounded by clanking morons who were ready to stab me earlier and then suddenly switched from murder to praise because I lit up a small screen."

"Well you weren't too badly hurt."

"I don't know Colonel. It felt pretty bad to me. Need I remind you that I am no closer to figuring out what the hell is going on around here. One moment it was dust, rubble and darkness, then it changed to rolling fields and meadows and now it's this place."

"You'll work it out. Once we get to The Forge I'm sure there'll be something to explain it."

"I hope you're right Colonel."

* * *

They reached the edge of Abyss a while later. In front of them there were several fields, as Ibex had told them. Beyond the fields there was a large wall like a small castle surrounding a structure. They could see the top above the highest turret. It was bright yellow and domed above the wall.

Ibex stopped and the other knight with him walked back to his companions behind Ronon. "These fields have seen many bloody battles in defence of The Forge. I will take you over them and ask for your admittance into The Forge. Anyone unescorted by an Ibyxian guard is considered an enemy and attacked on sight. You will be safe with me."

McKay had been listening to Ibex, but could not help noticing the sky was beginning to darken. The sun still shone, but there was a sense of dread gripping at his heart. He took the scanner out of his pocket and checked it. It was flashing red lights. He thought about it and decided not to tell Ibex or the others. He needed to test a theory he had formed.

Just then he saw the tell tale ripple crossing the sky turning the bright and cloudless sky into darkness. McKay quickly moved up to Ibex and pointed to the sky, "Ibex, do you see that? The fast approaching line of darkness across the sky?"

Ibex followed McKay's finger but he looked confused, "I'm sorry. I only see a clear sky."

"I was afraid you would say that." McKay turned to the rest of the team. "I needed to test a theory. I think I am now fairly certain we are shifting through time."

Ibex looked more confused but the energy wave was already upon them. He disappeared as the fields were replaced by ashes, mud and rubble. The team now stood in the dull light as it was when they first came to the planet. The wave passed through them and headed over Abyss. The once proud city instantly reduced to debris and nothingness. Abyss now felt haunted by the ghosts and shadows of the people they had just seen moments ago. Once this city was alive and now everyone they had just met had turned to dust centuries ago.

The landscape and rubble were the same as when they first saw the planet, Ibex had called it Sobyxia, but there were several small fires and fresh scorch marks on the ground around them.

Sheppard turned to McKay, "What do you mean, 'we're shifting through time?'"

"Exactly what I said," McKay snapped back. "Something happened here, or is about to happen that caused the timeline to go haywire. Throwing us backwards and forwards in time at random."

Teyla looked puzzled, "Why are we the only ones affected. Ibex was not able to see the wave approaching."

"Yes; that was my test. He did not see the wave, because he is stuck in the past going along his own path through time. As selfish as you all know I am, we are the only ones affected because this shifting is all about us. It has been from the start."

Ronon asked, "How did you figure that out?"

"If the Ancients had been messing with a power source in conjunction with some kind of quantum interface…"

Sheppard raised his eyebrows, "And for those without a grasp of the finer points of time travel?"

McKay looked superior and folded his arms across his chest, "How much do you want me to lay it out for you Colonel? Mixing power with time is a very bad combination. We now have first hand experience and it didn't work out so well did it?"

Ronon looked like he was beginning to understand, "So how do we fix it?"

McKay reached into his pocket once more, "We need to head over to that dome Ibex called 'The Forge' and take it from there."

Teyla was looking over towards where the dome had been in the past, "Doctor McKay; it will probably not be possible to enter the dome until we shift in time once more."

The rest of the team turned to face the direction Teyla was looking in. She was right. Now that their eyes had adjusted to the low light they could see that the dome was no longer there. Between them and the dome, there was a lot of extra debris, some of it was obviously yellow and had curved properties. Fires continued to rage all around them and covered many areas over towards the previous location of the dome.

McKay brought the scanner up and studied the screen, "You're right," he advised looking at Teyla. "I'm no longer detecting the energy reading." A frown creased his brow, "However I am detecting a very faint life sign."

They walked over to the location of the life sign and Sheppard gasped and quickly threw out a hand to stop McKay's progress.

"Hey!" McKay said indignantly as the hand hit him squarely in the chest and knocked him off balance. He then looked down at the figure lying on the ground with a long metal bar sticking out of his side. The man's face was covered in a mixture of blood and dirt, but he was unmistakable.

"Oh my god!" McKay whispered, his eyes wide and staring at the prone figure, "That's me!"

* * *

Ooooooo! I hear you say when you finish this chapter. It echoes around the world to my humble abode in fair and rain-soaked England. You just know you want to – click the review button below and I shall reward you with more angst and whump!


	4. Broken

Disclaimer - "Stargate" and all related characters are the property of MGM Television Entertainment.

**Chapter 4 – Broken**

The team stood around the injured man in silence. The heaviness and tension in the air was only broken by the faint crackle of the fires burning nearby. The mood was reflected in their bleak surroundings and the devastation of the grey and dead world surrounding them.

Sheppard still had his hand against McKay's chest and slowly moved it up onto the man's shoulder. Teyla was looking down at the injured McKay in horror. Ronon looked on impassively.

Ronon was the first to speak, "It's not you though, because you're here with us and have been the whole time."

McKay had subconsciously moved his hand up and was tightly gripping his side where the spike was sticking out of the man on the ground. His face was as white as a sheet and he was only staying upright because of Sheppard's steadying hand on his shoulder. For a moment it looked like he had lost the ability of to speak.

"I… Uh… It _is_ me. Or at least a version of me from another timeline. As this hasn't happened already; I draw the horrific conclusion that we have now shifted into the future."

Teyla took her eyes off the future-McKay and looked at Rodney, "Do you think this is what is going to happen?"

Sheppard was looking down at future-McKay trying to gauge the extent of his injuries. If he had been wearing a vest or rucksack before the explosion, the force had torn them both off. Along with the obvious metal spike driven through his side, there were numerous ugly burns and cuts all over his chest, arms and legs. His left arm was also bent round at a peculiar angle, the upper arm bone looked badly broken. Sheppard crouched down and placed a hand lightly on future-McKay's chest. He could feel a soft and rapid heartbeat, but could also feel that his breathing was very shallow and his chest rattled and wheezed. He surmised future-McKay's breathing trouble may be caused by broken ribs or inhalation of fire or debris from the dome which had fairly obviously only just exploded. He had seen this before in the wake of a bombing when he was serving in Afghanistan; it did not bode well.

Sheppard took his hand away and stood up. Although his hand was now covered in blood and grit he did not make any expression of disgust or motion to try and clean it. "I don't know Teyla." He looked at McKay who was only just managing to stand on his own. Ronon had moved closer to make sure if he did pass out, he would be caught.

Teyla asked, "If this truly is what is going happen; do you not think that Rodney would like our help?"

"Without cutting tools, that may be difficult." Sheppard said.

"We have to try something. Maybe if we help him he will awaken and tell us what happened."

"Good thinking Teyla."

Teyla grabbed a field dressing from one of her pockets and knelt down next to future-McKay. She looked over him, trying to decide which injury to treat first. She settled for the spike and looked up at Ronon, "Help me please. Hold him steady so that I may bandage his side."

Ronon looked at the spike sticking out of future-McKay's side, "We could just pull it out."

"I do not think that is a good idea Ronon. The spike has gone right through him and is probably deeply embedded in the ground. Any movement will only cause him further injury. Even if we are able to remove the spike, we have no way to stop the bleeding."

McKay was still looking down at his future self. His initial shock was dissipating and his face had now fallen into sadness. "This landscape; it looks the same as when we first came to the planet. I know we didn't get a very good look before it all went to hell, but maybe the gate has reappeared." He looked away in the direction of the gate unable to endure the sight of his future self any longer.

Teyla had reached underneath future-McKay and was wrapping the bandage around the pole while Ronon held onto each side of his torso to keep him still.

McKay continued, "If we can reach the gate, maybe this will never happen and I won't have to die."

Sheppard rounded on him and grabbed both his shoulders in a firm grip and shook him slightly. McKay looked up at him, his lips were pressed together in a thin line and he now appeared to be resigned to his fate, his eyes were filled with sorrow and fear. "You're _not_ going to die Rodney!" Sheppard tipped his head slightly towards future-McKay, but kept his eyes firmly locked on Rodney's, "He's not dead. You'll figure it out. Now that we know this is going to happen, we can prevent it."

"I don't know John," he sniffed, "We've been shifting through time. There's no reason for us to believe that we can have any influence on future events." He continued, "I actually don't think it will matter whether we make it back to the gate or not. There is no way of knowing when the timeline will shift again. He is me, therefore I don't think we would make it. This has already happened. I don't think there's anything we can do to prevent it."

Teyla had just finished wrapping the bandage around future-McKay's back and stood up. She looked down at the pinned and stricken man in sadness. She believed their McKay was correct. This man was probably beyond their help. She steeled herself to continue tending his injuries.

Teyla crouched down once again and started to gently peel back future-McKay's shirt to clean the burns across his chest. She was startled when he shifted slightly and his face screwed up in pain.

Sheppard had released McKay and was watching Teyla. He was surprised when future-McKay began to show signs of regaining consciousness. He stepped forward and knelt down peering into his face. "Rodney, are you with us?"

Future-McKay took as deep a breath as he could manage and gasped as it made him shift slightly on the bar. "Sheppard?" he harshly whispered. "I thought… after the explosion… when no one came to help straight away." His voice trailed off. He tilted his head over to the side away from Sheppard as tears tracked from his eyes and created smears through the dirt and blood across his face.

"Stay with us Rodney!" Sheppard demanded and grabbed the hand of future-McKay's undamaged arm.

"Us?" Future-McKay moved his head back to centre and struggled to open his eyes. He looked at Sheppard leaning over him and then around at Teyla and Ronon. Then his eyes settled on his other self. "Oh," was the only thing he said.

McKay felt a strange sensation crushing upon his heart as he gazed into the eyes of his future self. He had never experienced a feeling so strange. It was a sensation of unreality, like the world had changed into a shimmering dream where he had no control. He felt like there was an impenetrable barrier between him and his future self. He knew without thinking that he should not get too close to his future self or something very bad would happen.

Future-McKay held the eyes of his counterpart for as long as he could stand. Teyla had finished peeling and cutting away the strips of shirt left on his chest and gently laid gauze over the burns and cuts. This caused him to grimace and break eye contact as he closed his eyes in pain.

"That means I was right," he said, breathing through his teeth, "It didn't make any sense why it exploded. There was no power, no explosives to create it."

"What exploded?" Sheppard asked.

"I don't know. I shut down the field and took the Zed PM." He grimaced and opened his eyes again. "It was a quantum stasis device. I must have caused some kind of fracture in time when I shut it down."

McKay recovered slightly and was deep in thought as he continued to look down at his future self. "That would make sense. If the Ancients had been messing with a time device it stands to reason that any disruption would have catastrophic repercussions."

"Listen," future-McKay gasped, "I didn't have time to figure out how to fix it before the explosion. The Zed PM and my laptop are in my rucksack. I was able to download a large amount of data." He leaned his head over and looked at McKay, "I'm sure you'll be able to figure it out before this happens again."

Ronon asked, "Where's your rucksack?"

Future-McKay took a shallow breath and closed his eyes once more.

"Rodney?" Sheppard was still looking at him, "We have to know so that we can fix this!"

Future-McKay kept his eyes shut and answered weakly, "I don't know. It was on my back before the explosion hit."

"Rodney," Sheppard squeezed his hand gently, "Rodney?"

It was no use. Future-McKay had slipped back into unconsciousness.

Sheppard looked at Teyla in concern. She merely stated, "Without further medical assistance, there is nothing more we can do for him."

Ronon, kept his face stoic and said, "Let's find this rucksack then we can get out of here." He stalked off and began circling around them searching the ground.

Sheppard let go of future-McKay's hand and gently laid it back on the ground. It pained him to see the man in such distress. He could not help feeling a nagging sensation that it was not their McKay and it made him feel less. Like this McKay was an impostor and not worthy of such strong feelings.

Sheppard stood up and turned to look at 'his' McKay. He thought he had never seen the man looking so lost.

"Do you still think I'll be able to sort this out and not die?" McKay asked.

"I have faith in you Rodney. Don't give up."

Teyla went over and stood next to McKay, she placed a reassuring hand on his back, "The Colonel is right, if you give up now then this future may well become the only one which awaits us."

McKay looked down at his future-self one last time and then set his jaw and hardened his expression, "Alright. Let's find this rucksack."

* * *

It was slow going sifting through the loose rubble and dirt from the explosion. There were muttered curses as fingers singed on fires, which were still raging across the landscape.

After a while Ronon found the rucksack. His eyes still sharp from his days as a runner. The rucksack was covered in dirt and torn. It was still intact enough that nothing had fallen out. He carried it over to McKay who had seated himself so that he was facing away from the other McKay.

"Here you go," said Ronon, dumping the rucksack down in front of him.

McKay hastily unzipped the main pocket and pulled his hand away when he cut his finger against the zip, which had become sharp as it was damaged in the blast. He stuck his finger in his mouth and continued more carefully.

He pulled out a smashed laptop and the depleted ZPM.

"Sheppard, can you bring my laptop over here, he asked. Sheppard was still scrabbling around in some rubble a little way off and had not yet realised that the rucksack had been found. Teyla looked up too and headed over to them.

Sheppard sat down opposite McKay so that he could still look across at future-McKay who was still lying unmoving a few metres away. He took the rucksack off. McKay unzipped it and removed his own laptop, "Put the Zed PM in there and I'll see whether I can salvage anything from the hard drive. It looks like it may just be the screen that's smashed."

McKay plugged a lead in to link the two laptops and clicked a few keys.

Teyla and Ronon watched him work for a few seconds and then both decided to go and sit over next to future-McKay, who had not stirred. Teyla took his uninjured hand in hers and brushed some dust off his forehead. Ronon just sat and stared. Teyla laid her hand on his chest, as Sheppard had done earlier. She could feel his chest was now barely rising and falling and his heartbeat was so faint she could hardly feel it. She took her hand away and shared a concerned and sad look with Sheppard. They did not say anything.

Sheppard blinked and looked back to his fully alive, aware and breathing McKay, "Any luck?

"Yes, I was right. The hard drive is intact. I have nearly finished downloading all the data. There is a huge amount of information about this planet and The Forge."

He shifted to become more comfortable. "There we go. All the data has been transferred." He unplugged the smashed laptop and tossed it to the ground next to him.

Sheppard asked, "What have you got Rodney? Any mention of the gate or time device?"

"Hold on a moment." He quickly typed and his eyes darted across the screen. "There is only one mention of the gate. It seems that the information my other self was able to download also included data about the experiments the Ancients ran here ten thousand years ago."

His eyes widened in surprise, "It says the gate is in orbit. It's a space gate!"

"Then how did it come to be on the planet?" Sheppard asked.

"I don't know. Maybe the Ancients moved it."

"Then how come those guys we saw in the last shift had never seen or heard of it? Ibex told us the Ancients left the planet 'countless centuries ago.'"

"The only other explanation is that it was knocked out of orbit and fell through the atmosphere. Possibly during the Wraith attack which caused this." He waved his hand around indicating the blasted landscape and black, cloudy sky they sat under.

Suddenly Ronon shouted, "It's happening again!"

"I wonder what delights await us in the next shift," said McKay as he hastily stuffed his laptop back into the rucksack next to the depleted ZPM.

Sheppard picked up the bag and put it on his back. He then stood and helped McKay to his feet. Ronon and Teyla came over and they all stood together.

The now familiar wave tore across the sky and changed it to lighter shade of grey, normal clouds. The ground was once again turning to green. A faint sound of shouting started. It grew louder as the wave approached. The team warily lifted up their P90s in preparation.

The wave came closer. Future-McKay vanished and the dome reformed. The same wall they had seen in the previous shift surrounded it. The shouting became deafening and was now accompanied by a lot of metal upon metal sounds.

As the wave passed over them they were all thrown to the ground as a large crowd of knights ran into them. The knights seemed unfazed and kept running and shouting. Their swords drawn and ready.

Sheppard recognized the sound as a battle cry. He rolled onto his front and quickly stood up. He turned to see what they were running towards. He noticed they wore the same armour as Ibex and his fellow knights. There were hundreds of them and they were all running towards another crowd of knights on the other side of the field. The other knights did not have as much armour and were wielding bows, crossbows and some carried what appeared to be large and crude guns.

The last of the knights ran past. Sheppard looked over to check on his team. Teyla looked dazed, she had a cut across her forehead. She dabbed her hand up to it and it came away with some blood on the fingertips. Ronon was also already standing up and there was a nasty purple bruise spreading across his arm.

McKay was still lying on the ground and had a hand on his upper chest. Sheppard leant down and grabbed his other hand to help him up. "Are you hurt?" He asked.

"Well I just got a sound kick in the ribs and couldn't breathe for a moment. However, I think that's now the least of our problems."

Sheppard thought that sounded unusual, but turned to follow McKay's gaze towards the knights who had run past them. The ranged weapons crowd were winning and the line was being quickly driven back across the field towards them. Heavy knights were falling over with large dents in their breastplates as the guns from the other side fired lethal cannon balls at them.

Sheppard feared the worst and he was unfortunately right. One of the knights shouted, "Fall back to The Forge! We must stand!"

McKay shared a horrified glance with Sheppard. The Forge was behind them. The knights were going to bring the battle right on top of them.

"Run!" Shouted Sheppard to his team as the knights rapidly approached.

* * *

A/N – Wow I'm such a sucker for a cliffhanger! I found this chapter very difficult to write. Please tell me what you think… Thanks!


	5. Spiral

Disclaimer - "Stargate" and all related characters are the property of MGM Television Entertainment.

Let's get medieval…

**Chapter 5 - Spiral**

McKay ran as fast as he could. His chest throbbed where he had been kicked. He could feel Ronon behind him, pushing him along to go faster.

The knights were approaching quickly and the team were attempting to divert to the side of the dome. Many more knights were stationed at the top of the wall around the dome. They were armed with crossbows and fired them off into the enemy line as it approached.

The enemy side wore dark leather armour across their chests and guards on their lower arms to protect them from the bowstrings. The rest of their clothing was dark green and made them blend in with the trees behind them. They wore nothing on their heads, but had brown marks painted across their faces to aid with camouflage. They were fearless and continued to advance despite their inadequate protection compared to the shining metal-coated knights.

The retreating knights caught up with the Atlantis team and were able to avoid and run past them with ease. This was because the team had not just appeared in the middle of the charge like they did before when they shifted to this time. The knights started to run through a doorway in the wall surrounding the dome.

There was so much noise. The crashing of metal plates together in armour suits. Heavy footsteps as the grass in the field was pounded into mud. Loud bangs as small cannons were fired out of guns. The soft hiss of arrows as they were loosed from bows. Shouting through shock as weapons found their marks, screaming from the fallen and injured.

"_They love this dome so much, they'd rather be trapped and die in a siege than lose it."_ Thought McKay as metal shoulders and arms buffeted him. His lungs were now burning and his chest had gone numb with the adrenaline. He could feel the cut across his stomach had split open and was probably bleeding again.

It was no longer possible to try and avoid the doorway to the dome. McKay could see Sheppard and Teyla a little way ahead of him and Ronon. He was also being knocked between the knights and could not change course to run away from the door.

Sheppard turned slightly and called back to them, "Head for the door or we'll be killed!"

"_Can't argue with that,"_ thought McKay.

They headed through the arch with the last of the retreating knights. Two knights who stood on either side were quickly closing it. There were thudding noises as a few stray arrows and cannons hit against the door as it was sealed shut, but it held.

The team stopped running once they were safely within the confines of the wall. They could see the dome beyond the knights in front of them. It was so close.

McKay was bent over with his hand on his side trying to get his breath back. Teyla, Sheppard and Ronon stood around him looking at the knights. They would be noticed soon.

Knights were quickly grabbing crossbows and bows along with quivers and heading towards the staircases leading up to the top of the surrounding wall so that they could repel the invaders.

Teyla spoke, "What are we going to do Colonel? We cannot stay here."

"We are where we need to be. If we can gain access to The Forge, McKay could work out how to stop all of this time shifting and get us back to Atlantis."

McKay straightened up and moved his hand across his front to where the cut was concealed beneath his vest and shirt. He took it away and was shocked to find there was blood on his fingers. He grimaced and moved his hand up to test his injured ribs. He pressed lightly and gasped. It felt like he had a nasty bruise or possibly even a cracked rib or two. Now that the adrenaline was slowing down his chest and stomach ached and protested at his every movement.

Ronon was ignoring his bruise and had his gun ready in his hand for when the knights noticed them. Teyla still looked a little dazed but was able to watch the movement of the knights warily.

"We should just try to walk through. They might ignore us," suggested Ronon.

McKay replied, "Or they might think we're their enemy and chop us up into bite sized pieces with those swords they carry."

One of the knights heard McKay's sarcastic and none too quiet comment and turned to the group.

"Sonarans!" He shouted, alarmed, "They've breached the wall!"

"Here we go again. These knights really are stupid. Do we look anything like the other guys?" McKay told the team.

Sheppard held up his hands and shouted, "We're not Sonarans. We're friends with Ibex of Abyss."

The knight who had shouted came over with several others and surrounded the team. He lifted his visor and they saw that he was young and had no scars marring his features.

"I have not heard of Ibex. I think you are lying to infiltrate The Forge!" He looked at some of the other knights and spoke again, "Tie them up and leave them by the door. If they protest, kill them."

Sheppard stood still as the knights bound his hands behind his back. They pushed him towards the wall next to the door, which was now emitting a rhythmic thudding noise which they could feel vibrating through the ground. It sounded like the Sonarans were using a battering ram. They pushed him to the ground and tied his feet together. Teyla and McKay were undergoing the same treatment. Ronon looked very uncomfortable and growled at the knights as they worked.

McKay winced as a knight savagely pulled his hands behind his back and tied them together. His injured ribs and middle protested at the stretching and he closed his eyes for a moment. When he opened his them he glared at the knight in fury, "Do you have to tie it so tightly? I'm already injured I don't think I'm in any position to take you on even if I wasn't tied up!"

The knight guiding him over to the wall chuckled and turned him around. He then proceeded to grab hold of the top of McKay's vest and brutally slammed him into the wall.

"Ah!" Exclaimed McKay as all the breath was knocked out of his body. He slowly slid down the wall and crumpled in heap next to Sheppard. The knight let out another small laugh and tied McKay's feet together as hard as he could.

"If you move or try to speak with us you will have more than bruises to worry about," he said.

The knight and his companions moved a little way away from the team and then stopped to stand guard out of earshot. The ground was still quaking every few seconds as the door was assaulted.

Sheppard felt confident that the knights were probably paying more attention to the door than his team. He gently elbowed McKay in the side to try and get a reaction.

McKay winced and sucked in a wheezing breath. He opened his eyes and slowly sat up.

A knight on the other side of the door was looking at them. He was not one of the initial group, nor did he get involved in tying them up. He walked over and held up his hand to the others who were on guard.

He crouched down next to the team and lifted his visor to look at Sheppard. Sheppard gazed back at him, trying to keep all hint of emotion invisible on his face. Although McKay could see a slight flicker of defiance and anger at the edges, which a stranger would probably miss.

This knight was older than the one who had ordered them to be restrained. He considered Sheppard for a moment and then stood up and faced the guards.

"Release them. They speak the truth. These men and this woman are no Sonarans. Ibex was a Captain of the Ibyxian Guard, but he perished by Sonaran hands nigh on ten years ago. He told me a story of four strangers who appeared and disappeared. He said they carried great magic and would one day come again to save us."

Teyla spoke, "That is correct. We come to gain access to The Forge."

The young knight considered the man's words and reluctantly unsheathed a small knife. The older man was probably his superior officer. He walked over to the hostages and begrudgingly cut through the bonds.

The team rubbed at their sore wrists and ankles. McKay had large bleeding welts and blisters around his ankles where the knight had tied the rope too tightly.

The older knight spoke again, "Stand up and I shall guide you to The Forge, where you will be able to use your magic to save us."

Before they were able to move the door finally gave way and splinters of wood flew out and struck many knights who were stationed on the lower level inside the wall. They cried out and several of them fell.

Sonarans began running through the door and swords clashed against each other as they fought with the surrounding Ibyxians.

Sheppard looked round at Ronon, Teyla and McKay, "Whatever happens, stay down and don't move."

From where the team sat pressed against the wall near the recently breached door they had a full view of the battle.

Ronon and Sheppard watched with their own weapons raised just in case any knights strayed too close. McKay only saw a few bloody and merciless deaths before he had to turn away and shield his face from the slaughter. Teyla just sat with her mouth open as the Sonarans killed every one of the knights in front of them, including the young knight who had tied them up and Ibex's friend. The armour prevented them from rapid movements and the Sonarans cut them down before they were able to move their heavy arms into any kind of attack or defence.

Many of the knights who were standing around the top of the wall came down to help, but were shot from the wall by Sonaran cannon guns before they could do anything.

After a few minutes, which felt like hours, there were only a handful of Ibyxians left. They stood huddled next to the dome and made no movements to defend themselves. One of them stepped forward and laid his sword down on the ground in front of the Sonarans. He then knelt down and bowed his head.

One of the Sonarans also stepped forward, a cannon gun in his hand trained at the knight kneeling before him. He spoke, "Too long have the Ibyxians held control of The Forge. You condemn the Sonarans to death when the sky demons next come." He turned back to the Sonarans behind him and shouted so that everyone could hear him, "We will not be left out from the protection of The Forge anymore. Countless Sonarans have died at the hands of the sky demons while the Ibyxians sleep in safety beneath The Vortex! For this transgression, death is too good for you. As I speak, Abyss is burning and you will now come with us to Soon to pay for your crimes!"

The Sonarans all gave a loud battle cry roar in agreement and raised their cannon guns and bows in victory.

The Sonaran leader turned around and began heading back towards the broken door. Behind him his fellow soldiers disarmed and peeled the armour off the Ibyxians. The Sonarans then grabbed their legs so that they fell onto their faces. They proceeded to tie their hands behind their backs, gag and blindfold them.

He spied the Lanteans still sitting quietly next to the wall by the door. None of the other Sonarans had noticed them even though they were dressed so differently to the Ibyxians.

He walked over and stood towering over them, "You do not look like people of Abyss. However we cannot take that risk. As you are not bound or restrained in any way, we have to assume that you are in league with the Ibyxians and you will therefore not be treated any differently."

McKay looked horrified, he leaned over and whispered to Sheppard, "John, we're so close to The Forge. If we let these gun wielding psychopaths take us back to Soon we may never make it back here."

"I know Rodney," Sheppard said under his breath, never breaking eye contact with the Sonaran glaring at them, "But we can't get past these guys and I don't think they're going to give us a choice."

"Quiet, prisoner!" The Sonaran shouted and kicked Sheppard in the legs.

Sheppard took a sharp intake of breath, but made no further sounds.

Several Sonarans broke away from the main crowd and approached the team. They proceeded to lay them all down on their fronts and tie their hands as they had with the Ibyxians. They then gagged and blindfolded them.

Ronon struggled and roared but there were too many of them for him to break free. McKay, Teyla and Sheppard just let them get on with it. It would be useless for them to resist, as they were vastly outnumbered and outgunned.

McKay's ribs protested and he struggled to breathe when they laid him on the ground. When his arms were pulled behind his back he once again felt the cut across his front opening in a tearing sensation as his skin was stretched. Even before they blindfolded him, he had his eyes closed in misery. There was nothing he could do to stop the bleeding and try and hold himself together.

The Sonarans grabbed the team's shoulders and pulled them up to their feet. They then pushed them as they guided them along their course towards Soon.

* * *

A/N - I love knights and medieval battles. I called this chapter 'Spiral' as things go up and down for the team several times very quickly. Hope you're enjoying the rollercoaster!


	6. Soon

Disclaimer - "Stargate" and all related characters are the property of MGM Television Entertainment.

**Chapter 6 – Soon**

The Sonarans disarmed the Lanteans as they took their first blind and stumbling steps. They then proceeded to cut off their vests and McKay's rucksack was taken from Sheppard. Sheppard tried to protest as he felt the weight leaving his shoulders; they did not understand the importance of that bag. It was everything to them. Concealed within was possibly the only thing that would be able to end this nightmare. His shouts were incoherent against the gag and he got clouted about the head by one of the Sonaran guards for his efforts. He was dizzy for a moment and swayed slightly, but then regained his composure and restrained himself.

Like their constant and random movements through time; there was nothing he could do.

McKay heard Sheppard's shouts as the knife removing his vest nicked the skin on his shoulder. His heart pounded painfully against his ribs in rising panic. He tried to steady his breathing, which was uneven and fast.

The blindfold was tied so tightly McKay could not open his eyes at all as rough hands continued to force him ever onwards. The gag pulled back into his mouth so that he could not swallow. His breathing, although he had now managed to control the speed, came in pained gasps as his damaged ribs protested at being pulled back by his arms. He could feel dampness across the front of his shirt. Blood was seeping through the bandage around his torso, as it continued to trickle out of the stab wound Ibex had inflicted earlier. At least it was earlier for them, but as the older guard had told them, it was now over ten years ago for these people.

McKay stumbled on an unseen rock or pothole and a nearby guard grabbed his shoulders and firmly shoved him forwards.

There was a lot of noise all around them. Mostly shouts of joy and triumph from the Sonarans as they celebrated their victory as they walked. There was excited murmuring about how to fortify The Forge against the Ibyxians so that they would never control it again.

McKay felt cold and shivery. _"Probably from blood loss,"_ he thought. He tried to focus his mind on something else in an attempt to take his mind off the pain and discomfort he felt.

In the blind darkness of not being able to see, the only comfort he had was with his thoughts. Patterns, equations and ideas swirled around in the black of his closed eyelids.

He could still not imagine that there was any other way for their future to go other than towards his inevitable death by the explosion from the dome. Especially not now that every point in history of this planet they shifted to always involved some form of peril. At least he knew that he was destined to die in the explosion. He therefore inferred that as long as they were no longer anywhere near the dome, he was safe. No matter what happened to them, he was not going to die yet. He therefore felt a little happier they were putting distance between themselves and the dome.

Suddenly a sense of dread and fear settled on his chest. As soon as they were free, Sheppard would make them return to the dome and order McKay to enter and fix the device. McKay would protest, but there would be no way of knowing whether trying to fix the dome in the future was what caused this whole mess. The paradox rolled around in his brain for a few seconds.

How they were going to escape and reach the dome, he was not sure. If they shifted in time into another battle, they would not stand a chance, due to being unable to see, speak or freely use their hands.

McKay dragged in as deep a breath as he could manage and then let out a shaky and loud nasal sigh. He began to consider how the timeline had become so fragmented.

"_If this is something to do with a time device the Ancients created. There must be a way to fix it,"_ he thought. Future-McKay mentioned that there had been a quantum stasis field surrounding the ZPM. McKay had not had time to read through the data before they were flung through time again into the middle of the battle.

"_I wonder why the Ancients created such a thing?"_ McKay thought, _"Why did my future self even bother removing the Zed PM if it was depleted?"_

McKay began to feel very light-headed and dizzy. His feet dragged and he got slower and slower until he could no longer put one foot in front of the other, let alone think anymore.

One of the guards pushed him, urging him to keep on walking and to be faster. McKay caught his foot on an unseen piece of uneven ground and fell down onto his side.

"Get up now!" One of the guards shouted.

All rational thought was suddenly blanketed in nothing but white hot pain as the guard drove his boot into McKay's side savagely as he lay gasping on the ground. McKay curled up into a ball of agony and moaned. He felt the boot hit him again, in the back of his ribs this time. They were already bruised, cracked and sore from his earlier treatment by the Ibyxians.

He whimpered and shook violently as waves of pain radiated across his side and chest.

It felt likely eternity, but eventually the pain began to dissipate into a steady and more bearable throb. McKay still lay shivering on the ground and flinched every now and then in anticipation of another possible kick, or worse, from the guard.

McKay heard heavy breathing nearby. It sounded like the guard had crouched down and was very close to him.

"If you don't get up," he whispered, so that McKay would be the only one who heard him, "I'll split you open and leave you here to bleed. Your friends will not know and no-one will ever come to save you."

McKay felt something sharp pressing against the side of his ribs and down his side to his waist. He felt terrifying and blinding panic and fear at what the guard was about to do to him. His heart raced and breathing increased, every breath grated against his bruises and made the pressure from the blade increase.

He thought, _"When Sheppard finally escapes from these murdering psychos it will take him a long time to gather up what's left after this man's finished with me."_

McKay could feel the ground vibrating lightly as the Sonarans continued their march homewards. He lay as still as he could on the ground, trying to push himself further downwards to get away from the cruel steel. He felt a stronger vibration nearby.

"Leave him be, Escaren!" A different guard uttered.

"Sir," the guard answered.

The pressure from the blade eased slightly. McKay felt like he may have a thin cut along the line where the blade had been pressed against him. His shoulders and arms protested at being crushed under him as he lay on the ground.

"If you kill him, I doubt that his friends will be very co-operative," McKay's saviour continued, "Even under coercion."

Escaren took the blade away completely. McKay let out a small sigh of relief and tried to breathe normally. He had not even noticed that he had been holding his breath for the last few seconds.

Escaren spoke once more, "But sir, he is weak and bleeding. We could easily have told the others that he died on the trip back to Soon, rather than having to support him as he cannot walk on his own."

"Escaren, you did him no favours by the treatment you just gave him. Untie his hands and remove the cloth covering his mouth and eyes. I believe he may have collapsed as he cannot breathe properly. That would imply that he and the others are also enemies of the Ibyxians. He already had these injuries before you compounded them a moment ago. You may have just jeopardised the Sonarans relationship with a potential ally against the Ibyxians."

There was a pause and Escaren answered, "My apologies Sir Larren! I did not think."

McKay was carefully and slowly rolled onto his side and felt the bonds around his wrists being cut. His hands now free, he flexed his shoulders. He had pins and needles in his numb hands. Now that he was able to move his arms, he brought then round to his front and winced as he placed them on the blood covered bandage under his shirt. The guard let him relax down to lie on his back once again.

McKay breathed more easily now that his arms were not pinched behind his back. The guard untied the gag and McKay ran his tongue over his dry teeth and lips and tried not to flinch at the taste the cloth had left behind.

The blindfold was then removed and brilliant light shone through his eyelids as he had to keep his eyes closed against the sudden bright onslaught. He slowly squinted and gradually opened them as they adjusted to the light. It was still cloudy.

He could now see his captors. Although he could not immediately tell which one had done the kicking and which had saved him. The one who had untied him looked angry: Escaren. Another was watching both of them from a short distance and had a red band around his leather breastplate: Larren. McKay had only seen this armour variation on a few of the Sonarans. It must indicate a superior rank.

McKay turned his head to the side and saw a little way off, out of earshot, Sheppard, Teyla and Ronon still tied up, but seated on the ground and surrounded by guards. Most of the other Sonarans had already gone and McKay could see them disappearing over the brow of a hill a short distance away. The landscape was beautiful rolling fields and hills with mountains in the distance. Trees grew out of the ground where they pleased and there was a herd of light green cow-like creatures grazing on the grass a few hundred metres away.

Larren indicated for Escaren to join the guards around the rest of the Lanteans.

Larren crouched down and looked at McKay, "Are you terribly hurt? I must apologise for the behaviour of my kinsman. His father was killed by the Ibyxians only a few weeks ago and he has been looking for revenge ever since."

McKay looked up at the man and gritted his teeth, but did not speak. Nothing Larren could say would ever make up for Escaren's actions. McKay could not find it in himself to feel any pity for him. Larren had a bag on his back with a cannon gun holster inside. He swung the bag off, removed the gun and laid it on the ground. He then rummaged for a moment and pulled out a bandage.

"Can you sit up so that I may tend your injuries?"

McKay nodded slowly and Larren put his arms under McKay's shoulders and gently pulled him upright. McKay closed his eyes tightly and breathed heavily.

Larren continued to speak as he removed the soaked bandage around McKay's middle and tightly wrapped the fresh one around the cut.

"Was I correct? Were your initial injuries caused by the Ibyxians?"

McKay looked down when the first bandage was taken off and was not surprised that the cut had grown from being pulled by his tied arms. He could also see purple and swollen bruises on his chest and side where he had been kicked by the battle charging Ibyxians and Escaren recently.

McKay coughed and answered, "Yes. The Ibyxians stabbed and kicked me."

"Who are you?" Larren asked.

McKay considered him for a moment thinking about how much to tell him. He decided to be truthful, as they were still stuck in the past he thought it would not matter.

"We're not from this world. We're trapped here. Something happened in The Forge and we've been shifting through time, caught up in the history and future of this world while trying to survive and get back."

"That is preposterous," Larren replied looking amused, "Only the sky demons are not of this world. As for travelling through time, I have never heard such a thing."

Larren finished expertly tying the bandage and helped McKay to his feet.

McKay swayed but stayed upright.

Larren said, "I now believe that you are indeed enemies of the Ibyxians." He turned to the other guards and shouted, "Untie them, but keep them unarmed."

* * *

The guards begun undoing the bonds when an energy wave washed over them and they disappeared. The sky remained cloudy as it had done before, but was punctuated by the screams of Wraith darts mingled with similar noises from humans on the ground as they were scooped up and silenced.

McKay turned around in horror. The darts were off in the distance behind him. The Sonarans had probably taken a straight course back to Soon from The Forge and McKay thought the darts were circling above where The Forge was located.

A group of people where running across the field towards the team. There were men, women and children. They were coming from the direction Soon lay in. McKay was unsure whether this was the past or future relative to the time they had just left.

McKay hastily walked over to Sheppard, Ronon and Teyla and undid the ropes around their wrists and removed the gags and blindfolds. They all stood up and rubbed at their wrists and rolled their shoulders to ease the stiffness.

Sheppard blinked at him, "Thanks Rodney." He looked at McKay more closely, taking in his pale features and bloodstained shirt. "How're you holding up? We heard the scuffle earlier. The guards stopped and forced us to sit down."

Ronon growled, "If I could have seen I would have taken them all on."

Teyla looked at Ronon, "That would probably have made the Sonarans kill Rodney and then move onto the rest of us." She turned to McKay and asked, "What did they do to you?"

McKay grimaced from the memory, but lifted his chin up and replied, "I fell over and they roughed me up a bit. I'll be ok as long as it doesn't scar."

Sheppard rolled his eyes, McKay was not fooling him, "Well you can tell us later when you feel better if you want to."

McKay opened his mouth to reply but was cut off by Ronon, "So where are we, or should I say _when_ are we?"

McKay replied, "I'm not sure, but those peasants over there are fast approaching and the Wraith are here."

The team all turned to watch the group. Just as they came closer, they suddenly disappeared.

"That's strange," Teyla said.

A few seconds later the people reappeared. They had now gone past the team and were still running towards The Forge.

"Very strange," Sheppard agreed.

McKay thought for a moment, "It's similar to the effect we saw when it was raining and yet there were no clouds in the sky. Time appears to be broken into different periods here."

There was a loud rumbling sound emanating from the direction of The Forge and suddenly a massive Ancient warship lifted into the air. Drones flew from the ship and impacted on several of the darts. They exploded in showers of debris and fire. There were hundreds of darts approaching from the sky and there was no way the Ancient warship could destroy them all. It hovered for a moment and then began to rise higher into the sky.

The group who had run past the team stopped and knelt down. They held their hands out to the sky towards the fleeing Ancient warship and a few of them cried out, "Leave us not!" "The demons will take us all!" "Save us!"

The Ancient warship broke through the clouds and was veiled from sight. One of the group turned to the others and shouted, "To the lab! The shield may protect us yet from the demons! As the Lanteans have left us such a gift, we must use it!"

The group rose to their feet and began running again.

McKay turned to the others and saw the shock in their faces. "This is definitely the past relative to when we were. In Abyss, Ibex mentioned that The Forge had saved them long ago in their history. How it became twisted so that they thought the Ancients saved them I don't know. It's now clear they were left behind to die at the hands of the Wraith."

* * *

As quickly as it begun it was ended. Another wave passed over the team and they were standing surrounded by the guards they had left behind in the future.

Larren blinked and looked surprised. The other guards moved to surround them.

Larren stuttered, "What… happened?"

McKay gave him a superior look, "See, I wasn't lying. We shifted in time and then came back again."

Larren was lost for words for a minute as he and the other guards looked at them in shock, which quickly turned to fear.

"You must accompany us back to Soon," Larren said, "There you may rest and tell us more of these tales."

Ronon snorted, "Tales?" He muttered darkly.

Sheppard gave him a warning look. "Yes that would be nice and I'm dog tired after today." He smiled at McKay, "If it's been a day. Do you have any idea how long we've been here for Rodney?"

McKay looked at his watch. It had stopped, "No idea, but I feel very tired too."

They walked across the field towards Soon.

* * *

An hour or so later the team entered the city of Soon. There was a very high and thick wall around the settlement. Guards were peering over the wall at them and off into the distance towards The Forge and Abyss. The team passed through a large archway into the city.

Sheppard looked around, he thought it looked more like a shantytown or perhaps temporary accommodations for barracks or disaster victims. There were hundreds of tents and shacks surrounding a large and impressive castle on a hill in the centre of Soon. The wall overshadowed many of the dwellings. There were stalls outside some of the tents with vast arrays of fruit, meat, clothes and exotic jewellery for sale. There was a cobbled road leading through the centre of the stalls and upwards towards the castle.

Larren and the rest of the guards stopped and turned to the team, "Welcome to Soon! I shall take you to castle where we will feast over our victory against the people of Abyss and discuss our new alliance."

Sheppard looked at his team, his expression was one of surprise and dismay. He had obviously not heard all of what had been said to McKay earlier.

The guards turned and continued to walk. The team had no choice but to follow.

* * *

A/N - The Ancients really suck and almost border on being evil sometimes ('The Return,' the Wraith and the Replicators are all cases in point). I've got the whole history of this world mapped out. I may be pushing McKay's ability to work things out a bit in this chapter - but he's very clever ;)

Please let me know what you think! Thanks.


	7. Chaos

Disclaimer - "Stargate" and all related characters are the property of MGM Television Entertainment.

**Chapter 7 – Chaos**

The team walked along the cobbled path towards the castle in the centre of Soon. Many of the residents had gathered on each side of the path. Some of them cheered and others waved as Larren and his guards passed.

The other Sonaran soldiers had obviously already gone up to the castle as there were flowers strewn across the path and the people looked happy.

"_It only took the deaths of hundreds of Ibyxians to make them like this,"_ McKay thought bitterly looking at the smiling faces and frowning.

Some of the people watching ran out onto the path and tucked loose flowers into the armour of Larren and his men. They looked at the strangers in curiosity but gave them a cautious and wide berth.

It was beginning to get dark and fires had been lit at the entrance to the castle. Sonaran soldiers stood ready on either side of the entrance holding their cannon guns loosely. They straightened up as Larren approached.

"Praise to the victorious of Soon!" They chorused as Larren walked past.

Larren held up his hand in greeting, but did not say anything.

McKay looked up to fully take in the castle as they got closer. It was round across the base and had windows in the walls for archers and gunners. There were brightly coloured flags flying from many turrets, which grew out of the top of the base. McKay estimated it to be at least ten storeys high. It was a massive feat of engineering for a people who had not yet invented any kind of engine to help them build. It stood as a proud testament to the Sonarans.

He looked back down as Sheppard and Teyla in front of him went through the door behind Larren. Ronon was behind McKay and the other guards who had kept them hostage walked behind Ronon.

The group walked along a narrow corridor and through another door into a large entrance hall with a high ceiling. There was a lot of noise coming from down one of the three corridors branching off the hall. In front of them were two spiral staircases leading into the ceiling towards the upper rooms and turrets. Next to each staircase was an incredible stained-glass window, which provided ample colourful light into the hall during the day. They were currently dull against the fading light outside.

One depicted The Forge's dome with a sun shining down upon it so that beams reflected off the surface. The second showed a Sonaran soldier with a cannon gun aimed firmly at a squirming Wraith beneath his foot. The soldier looked smug and confident.

Sheppard took in the images, "Nice," he deadpanned.

Larren had been speaking with some of the guards who were milling around in the entrance hall. His expression was grave and he nodded as the soldiers reported to him. He then turned around and walked back to the Lanteans.

"Please, join us," Larren said, his face had fallen, something from the report had not pleased him. He held his hand out and indicated towards the curved corridor to the left of the entrance hall. "This way leads to the Great Hall. The other corridors lead to the courtyard, dungeons, barracks and armoury."

As they got closer pleasant food smells began wafting down the corridor. McKay's stomach made an embarrassing lolloping noise and he put his hand on it and let out a nervous laugh.

He then turned to Sheppard who was looking at him with a half amused, half exasperated expression.

"What?" McKay asked, glaring at him, "I'm really hungry. We haven't eaten for hours!"

Sheppard rolled his eyes and looked back to the corridor. Ronon was smiling behind them.

Teyla walked up to Larren as the noise from the hall increased. She asked in concern, "Larren, what is wrong? What did the guards tell you a minute ago?"

Larren looked at her, "They were scouts from the front and had a battle report. They said the Ibyxians have been able to drive all our forces from Abyss. However The Forge is still ours. We left a large proportion of our soldiers there to defend it."

Ronon had heard too and said, "It's a good idea to concentrate your forces and focus on one thing at a time."

As they entered the Great Hall McKay smiled. His ribs and side still ached, but the cut across his stomach had stopped paining him since Larren had bandaged it. There must have been something soaked on the dressing to numb and disinfect the injury.

There were a hundred or so Sonarans still wearing their armour sitting at several long tables across the floor. Multicoloured drapes hung down from the ceiling. The noise was caused by excited talking and laughter as the Sonarans drank, ate and loudly boasted about their deeds in the battle earlier that day.

Larren turned to the team, "Enjoy, but be aware that you are not permitted to leave the castle." He then went off towards one of the tables and joined in the revelry.

Sheppard turned to McKay, Teyla and Ronon and spoke above the noise, "Okay guys, we have to figure out a way to get out of here and back to The Forge."

Teyla said, "I do not think that will be possible at the moment Colonel. Perhaps we could wait until we shift in time again?"

McKay looked annoyed, "I agree with Sheppard, well at least the getting out of here part, obviously after we've eaten as much as we can. If we shift in time now there is no way of knowing whether this structure will be standing in the time we shift to. If it isn't we may be crushed or shift into a wall." He grimaced at the thought.

Ronon said, "Sounds good. Let's get some food and wait until the Sonarans are so drunk they don't notice us as we slip away."

McKay advised, "We have to find the rucksack and our weapons before we can leave. Do you think we can convince Larren to tell us where they are?"

Sheppard looked over at Larren, who was drinking deeply from a large goblet. He snorted into it and began choking as he laughed at the wild gestures from another soldier next to him.

"I don't think we'll have to wait too long to get away. I'll speak with Larren after we've eaten." Sheppard said, "Let's stick together and don't get drunk!"

McKay sighed as they walked over to some spare chairs around a table heaving with plates of food.

* * *

The team ate in silence, watching the Sonarans carefully. There was so much noise in the hall there was no way the team could have a conversation. McKay winced as his ribs creaked when he turned to look at a different groups of merry Sonarans.

They had only been there for about half an hour when a sense of dread fell across the celebrations. The team looked over towards the door they had come through. There was a dishevelled and pale Sonaran guard standing there. Sheppard could see he was shouting something, but the noise in the hall was drowning it out at the moment.

Slowly the silence rippled across the hall from the solitary guard as more people heard what he was saying. Their smiles froze comically and then feel into looks of fear and worry.

After a while only a few people were still talking and the team could now hear the guard clearly.

"The sky demons have come! They are taking people from Abyss and are heading this way!"

The Lanteans looked dismayed; it would now be nearly impossible to reach The Forge without being scooped by the Wraith. Although Sheppard thought that the Sonaran cannon guns had looked quite dangerous and were probably not just for use against the Ibyxians.

Sheppard walked over to Larren, who looked a little lost. He grabbed the man's shoulders and spoke, "We must get to The Forge. We need the bag I was carrying earlier."

Larren did not respond and Sheppard had to shake him lightly. Larren blinked and slowly looked up at Sheppard, "I had it taken to the armoury along with your weapons. I told them not to touch the bag, but that they could begin to dismantle the weaponry to see how it worked.

"Great," McKay muttered to Sheppard, "P90 reverse engineering. It'll all end in tears and cries of 'Ow! My hands!'"

Larren gathered himself together and hardened his expression as he stood and addressed the other Sonarans present, "Muster all forces around the castle and guide our kin towards The Forge. Now that we hold the sanctuary we will survive the sky demon attack under it's shield." He turned to the Lanteans as the Sonarans in the hall all got up and ran out into the corridor to defend Soon.

"Follow me. I will lead you to the armoury and we can collect you bag and equip you for the fight ahead."

Larren led them out of the hall and down the corridor. The walls muffled any noise from outside so that there was no way of knowing what was going on.

They went through the entrance hall. There were soldiers running out the main door and down the narrow passageway. They continued and went into the corridor on the right side of the entrance hall. McKay assumed the third door between the two staircases led out into the courtyard.

The corridor they now walked along had a few guards running along it towards the entrance hall. They had cannon guns in their hands and expressions of fear on their faces. The Ibyxians were one thing, but the Wraith had more firepower and the ability to grab people without a fight.

They walked through a door at the end of the corridor into a busy room. It was wide and there were rows upon rows of cannon guns, cannons, bows, swords and armour. Sonarans were hastily putting armour on and stowing cannon guns across their backs.

A very young man approached Larren and the Lanteans as they entered the room.

Larren leaned over and spoke to him, "Squire, I asked a fellow guard that the bag belonging to these people be brought here and left untouched before we were separated. Bring it to us."

The man bowed and ran off into the room. He came back a few seconds later holding McKay's rucksack. Larren took it and handed it to Sheppard who gratefully put it on his back.

Larren turned again to the man, "Now see about getting these people ready for battle." He indicated the Lanteans.

The man beckoned to several other young men who had just finished arming Sonaran soldiers.

The team were split up and measured. They then had stiff leather plates strapped across their chests, backs, arms and legs. Ronon seemed to be enjoying it. He wore armour, although it had been metal, on Sateda. Sheppard and Teyla looked a little uncomfortable as the men did up the buckles and then stood back to admire their handiwork.

Theirs was nothing compared to the look on McKay's face as he stood there and struggled to move in the fairly unyielding leather now weighing him down. He tried to shrug to readjust the armour on his shoulders but did not have much luck. He grimaced and tapped the knuckles on one of his hands against his side. It emitted a sound like knocking on a door. He was fairly surprised at how sturdy the armour felt, despite how thin it was.

He shrank away when the man gearing him up came over with a bowl of brown paint for his face.

"No, I'm fine thanks. I certainly feel the part in this leather." He held up his hand, but the man smiled and indicated to a couple of his companions who had been watching in amusement as McKay pulled faces while he had the armour put on.

The men grabbed McKay's arms and allowed the other man to daub brown paint across McKay's cheeks and forehead.

McKay closed his eyes in annoyance and breathed slowly to try and calm his anger. When he opened them the man smiled again and roughly spun him round. He then quickly slid a cannon gun into the holster on the back of McKay's armour. McKay leaned backwards for a moment under the weight, but the man pushed him upright and he did not fall.

Sheppard, Teyla and Ronon had also been watching the show and they were trying not to laugh with the other Sonarans. They had made no protest against the gear and allowed the Sonarans to paint their faces without comment. Ronon had the cannon gun out of it's holster and was carefully examining it. Spare ammo was inside large pouches hanging from the leather armour by each hip. Sheppard had to carry his cannon gun due to the rucksack on his back.

McKay regained his composure and walked back to Sheppard, Teyla and Ronon. He muttered, "I feel ridiculous. I can hardly move."

Sheppard chuckled and laid a hand on the back of McKay's shoulder, "Now let's not upset the Sonarans. Remember they're helping us get to The Forge. We should be grateful they want to try and keep us alive by protecting us."

Teyla looked at Larren, "We are honoured to be clothed as Sonarans."

He looked at Teyla and then the rest of the team, "Reloading the cannon gun is easy." He showed them using his own gun and then let them practise for a few minutes.

"Okay, that's fine. Now follow me. The others should be still outside the castle waiting for us."

They walked from the room, back along the corridor, through the entrance hall and out into the chaos.

* * *

It was completely dark now and darts were flying through the air above Soon. Many of the tents surrounding the castle were on fire. As they watched a dart swooped down towards the ground and fired on a few Sonaran soldiers. The explosion ignited another tent and sent the soldiers flying through the air.

To the team's surprise some of the fires were caused by crashed darts that the Sonarans had successfully shot down. Hundreds of Sonarans stood along the bottom of the castle wall and shot cannons from their guns towards the darts. A few found their marks and the dart courses wavered. It took more than one hit to take them down, but the Sonarans were doing a good job.

Larren called out to the guards, "Head to The Forge! Head to The Forge!"

He then walked forward as the other guards began to proceed towards the outer wall of Soon.

Sheppard turned to the team, "Don't get split up and keep your heads down."

Teyla, Ronon and Sheppard all had their cannon guns out and aimed at the sky ready to shoot at any Wraith darts which got too close. McKay sighed and grudgingly reached across his back and pulled out his own gun and tilted it upwards with the others as they walked along the cobbles and back on their way towards The Forge.

* * *

A/N – Sonarans really kick Wraith ass! Shoot them down!


	8. The Forge

Disclaimer - "Stargate" and all related characters are the property of MGM Television Entertainment.

**Chapter 8 – The Forge**

The Lanteans trudged through the first field after Soon along with the fleeing Sonarans. They had turned back to look at the city after they had been far enough away from the encircling wall to see the top of the castle. They were shocked, but not surprised to see that a bubble of time from another era was settled on the side of one of the turrets. It was daytime in the era and it bit into the turret, so that they could see sky where the walls of the turret abruptly stopped. They could also see the rooms and tiny figures of Sonaran guards as they ran up the staircases to defend themselves against the darts.

A Wraith dart screamed overhead and exploded in a ball of flames as it got hit by many Sonaran cannons. A trail of fire and debris flew across the sky in it's place, stark against the inky black sky. It slowed down and descended to impact on the ground hundreds of metres away from the crowd of Sonaran soldiers and civilians making their way towards The Forge.

There was a loud cheer as the dart was destroyed.

Sheppard had to admit that he was impressed. Most of the darts had been shot down before they had been able to scoop any of the people up from the ground. He had pointed his cannon gun towards the darts and fired with the Sonarans. Whether he had hit anything, he was not sure. The cannon gun had a savage kick, and he had nearly been knocked off his feet the first time he fired it.

McKay walked up to Sheppard's side as another blast illuminated the sky like a garish firework a few miles in front of them in the direction of The Forge. The Sonarans stationed there were also fighting the Wraith. They were walking as close to the centre of the crowd as they could to avoid being separated. Ronon and Teyla walked behind McKay and Sheppard.

Sheppard turned to look at McKay. The man looked at the ground, in pain and afraid. He was nervously fiddling with the cannon gun in his hands. His breathing was shallow and seemed to be hurting him. Sheppard was unsure whether the scientist had even fired the gun yet. Then again it was only as a last resort that Rodney ever fired his weapon. He still relied on the others to protect him until he was the last one or until they were so overwhelmed they needed the extra firepower.

McKay caught Sheppard looking at him. He was having trouble breathing. His chest and side felt crushed by the leather armour as it painfully pressed against his bruises and cracked ribs. He coughed and winced.

"John, I can't breathe," he hissed through clenched his teeth.

"Rodney, we can't stop or these people will leave us behind and we won't be able to shoot down the Wraith on our own."

Teyla had been watching and listening in concern, "We could loosen the fastenings on the armour. I do not think we should remove it as it will protect us if we get hit by any debris or are too close when the darts shoot at us."

Ronon looked around at the crowd and spoke, "I think we're in the middle. It'll be alright if we stopped for a minute."

The team stopped. Teyla and Ronon covered them keeping a close eye on the sky.

McKay knelt down, closed his eyes and huffed lightly as he wrapped his arms across his chest.

Sheppard crouched down and carefully undid the buckles on the leather plates strapped across McKay's front and back. It had been very tight. He loosened it by a few notches and McKay let out a sigh of relief.

"Is that better Rodney?" Sheppard asked as he looked at his friend.

"I… think so… yes, thanks," McKay took a deeper breath and found that although it still hurt it was at least now possible to take a full breath.

Sheppard helped him stand up, "Come on Rodney, let's get to The Forge and try to figure this out."

"That's what I was afraid you'd say."

Sheppard looked at him again, confused.

McKay continued, "The closer I get to The Forge, the more certain I am that I'm about to die very soon." He looked down and closed his eyes in fear.

Sheppard thought about it for a moment, "Rodney, I don't think so. Your future self had no trace of Sonaran armour on him. Also the people of this world have told us there is a shield around the dome. I think we'll be safe there."

"Do you really think that the Wraith will just give up and leave after so many of their darts have been destroyed? You know as well as I that they do not take it lightly when their dinner fights back."

"Well we can't stay out here can we? We have to take a chance and get to the safety of The Forge."

The conversation was broken as a group of five darts flew overhead and two successfully scooped up a group of people from the outer edge of the crowd. Sonarans screamed in rage and furiously shot cannons at the offending darts.

The Lanteans joined in and four of the darts became only parts and pieces, which rained down harmlessly on the crowd. The final dart circled higher and then zoomed off upward back to the Wraith hive or cruiser in orbit. They tracked it's progress into the black sky and then all shared the same anxious look. They doubted that this would be the end of the attack.

Teyla spoke quietly, "We must get to The Forge. The Wraith will return in greater numbers or just destroy everything in retribution for our stand against them."

* * *

An eerie silence descended as there were no longer any darts assailing them. The Sonarans realised after a minute and cheered in celebration. The Wraith had been defeated and had fled from the planet.

The Sonarans stopped in their march; uncertain what to do now that they perceived the threat had gone. They were close to The Forge and could make out the top of a dull yellow dome a little way ahead.

The cheering did not last for long. A large blue bolt came down from the sky and smashed into the ground a short distance away from them. The force of the impact caused the ground to shake with such intensity that most people were thrown from their feet. The location the bolt had hit exploded in a cloud of spreading dirt and a nearby tree ignited. The light from the burning tree lit the whole scene.

McKay's eyes were wide and he shouted even as he lay on the ground with the others, "I knew this would happen! Oh my god, I'm going to die a terrible painful death!" He paused for a moment, "We're all going to die!"

"Not if I can help it," Sheppard jumped up to his feet at the same time as Ronon and Teyla.

Teyla offered a hand to McKay and pulled him upright. She said rationally and calmly, "We must reach The Forge. We will then be able to return to our own time and get back to Atlantis."

Ronon looked at the sky and saw more blue bolts raining down towards them, "Run!" He shouted.

They all ran as fast as they could. The bolts hit the ground further away than the first, but still too close for comfort. They seemed to be aimed towards both Abyss and Soon.

McKay had dropped his cannon gun and wheezed as he ran holding his hands against the leather armour covering his damaged ribs. It was like he was trying to hold himself together. Sheppard made sure he did not get left behind.

Many of the Sonarans were also running to get to The Forge. They ran through the smashed remains of the door which had once blocked the only access through the surrounding wall to The Forge.

Sonaran soldiers were walking around looking confused and lost. They had nothing more to shoot at and they could not defend themselves against the blue fire from the sky.

One of them called out, it sounded like Larren, "Everyone into The Forge! We must take refuge!"

People crammed through the doorway as they panicked to get inside the dome.

A blue bolt hit the ground outside the wall surrounding the dome and many Sonarans were vaporized or slammed into the wall and broken by the shockwave.

Sheppard grabbed hold of McKay's upper arm so that they did not get separated. He could not see Teyla or Ronon, but was sure they would make it into the dome if they could.

The two Lanteans were pushed and shoved about by the crowds in the bottleneck of the corridor after they went through the doorway in the dome. The crowds thinned out as they went through doors in the sides of the corridor which led to staircases going down.

The interior of the corridor, just as the outside of the dome, was dark. It was only illuminated by fire torches some of the Sonarans carried and others fitted to the walls.

"There's no power," McKay shouted over the noise.

"_Well duh," _thought Sheppard,_ "And if there's no power, there's no shield."_

Sheppard espied Larren. He was standing at the other end of the corridor preventing people from going past him. Sheppard dragged McKay along and walked over to him.

"Larren," Sheppard said, "Where is the centre of this complex? We must try and help you."

Larren said, "Help us? We are in The Forge. We are now safe, the shield will protect us from the sky demons in their madness."

McKay pulled his arm away from Sheppard and rubbed it. It had been held so tightly; he could feel bruises on the skin beneath his shirt. He pointed at the ceiling and said, "The shield isn't on. We have things in the rucksack which could fix it."

Larren looked shocked and put out, "The Vortex is through this door behind me. I have been guiding our people into the catacombs beneath. There is a vast complex under The Vortex. There is enough space for hundreds of souls to survive."

He turned and the door slid open. McKay and Sheppard followed him inside.

They were greeted by a round room with a cylinder in the centre. Trailing cables connected the cylinder to the ceiling and to the surrounding control panels and then to the floor. The cylinder was emitting a bright red light of such intensity it illuminated the whole room without the need for any other light source.

Larren looked at the cylinder. He gasped and fell to his knees. He then buried his face in his hands and sobbed, "We are being punished," he cried, "The Vortex has judged us unworthy!"

Sheppard looked at McKay and they shared a questioning glance. Sheppard swung the rucksack off his back and passed it to McKay, who pulled out his laptop, scanner and the depleted ZPM.

Sheppard crouched down and placed a hand on Larren's back, "What's wrong Larren?"

Larren sobbed and sniffed, "The Vortex should be beautiful and mysterious shades of green and blue. It is now red like the blood that has been spilled by us and now by the sky demons this very day."

The ground shook as he spoke. The Wraith had fired close to the dome again.

McKay was standing by the red cylinder. He raised his eyebrows as he studied his laptop and hammered on the screen scanning massive amounts of data as it scrolled incredibly fast. Sheppard was surprised he could even see it, let alone read any of it.

McKay's mind was whirring, generating possibilities. He skimmed over and dismissed most them. Suddenly he stopped and snapped his fingers.

Sheppard looked at him expectantly.

"But that's impossible," McKay said, lowering his hand, he was still staring at the laptop, but did not seem to be seeing it, "Or at least highly improbable. Well it would have been for me until you spent six months in a time dilation field, when only hours had passed by for us."

Sheppard waited patiently for him to continue.

McKay looked up from his laptop at Sheppard, his eyes were on fire with excitement, "It all makes sense now," he said, "A time stasis field, amazing! The Ancient's found a way to freeze time around a Zed PM, so that it would never drain, even as they siphoned power from it."

"That's interesting Rodney, but how does your understanding of yet another misguided Ancient experiment help us get out of here?"

"My other self removed the Zed PM. I thought it was in the future, but now I think it may have been what caused time to start behaving in the way we have experienced. The Ancient's must have figured out that there would be no way to shut down the field without damaging the flow of time itself and creating unsolvable paradoxes."

He let his words hang in the air and looked back at his laptop. He then looked at the red cylinder. The light was pulsing gently casting an angry hue over the whole room.

"Uh oh. This is very strange."

He picked up the dull ZPM in his free hand. "According to my readings there is no Zed PM within the time dilation field. The field should not even be on in any shape or form as there's nowhere for the power to come from."

Sheppard considered the words. The science rolled over him, as he only needed to know one thing. "Can you fix it?" He asked.

"I don't know John. I may be a genius, but I don't think we have a lot of time before the Wraith target this facility and without the shield it won't last long."

McKay put his laptop down and held the ZPM in both hands. "If I can replace the Zed PM, I may be able to get the time stasis field operational again."

"Okay. If you're in any way unsure though…"

"John, there isn't time to be unsure. I'm just gonna have to do it and see what happens."

He pushed the ZPM through the edge of the field and was met with a small amount of resistance. He shoved and his hands went through the field. He gritted his teeth expecting something horrible to happen. Visions of his hands dissolving flashed across his mind.

He was lucky though, and let go of the ZPM as it clicked into a holder in the cylinder of red light. The light did not change in any way. He carefully removed his hands and turned them slowly as he examined them for damage. He sighed in relief as he could not see or feel anything wrong with them.

He grabbed his laptop and plugged it into one of the control panels around the cylinder.

Sheppard was still crouched next to Larren. The man had ceased sobbing and was watching in confusion as McKay worked.

Sheppard considered McKay's words about the device, "If there was no ZPM in the stasis field. Doesn't that mean that when your future self removed it it ceased to exist in the stasis field at every moment in history?"

McKay paused and Sheppard could see his face changing shape as a terrifying thought came to him.

"Oh no! You're right. In a very bad way for us and this whole planet. If I can't find a way to fix the stasis field the Wraith will destroy the facility and the Zed PM will explode along with it."

He paused, about to drop the bombshell; "It will be destroyed at every point in time. Although most concerning is when it was first put inside the field. It will explode and destroy this facility as soon as it is placed inside. The Sonarans and Ibyxians will not have the shelter when the Wraith attacked ten thousand years ago when the Ancient's abandoned them!"

The noise of the attack outside was getting closer as the Wraith continued to fire at the surface. Obliterating every building and killing all who were left outside.

Sheppard thought about Teyla and Ronon. He hoped they had found refuge with the other Sonarans under the dome.

Suddenly a bolt found the dome. The ceiling and side of the room, furthest away from Sheppard, imploded and sent out a wave of debris and fire. Sheppard had already been close to the ground, next to Larren, and was merely knocked over.

McKay had been far too close and bore the brunt of the weapon's impact. He was lifted off his feet and slammed into the wall and showered with twisted and burning hot metal. He then fell to the ground and landed heavily and awkwardly. Sheppard held a sickening crack, like a gunshot, as his foot twisted round and broke his ankle.

Sheppard left Larren and crawled over to where McKay lay unconscious leaning against the wall. Sheppard could feel burns and cuts all over himself where he had also been hit by red hot metal.

McKay looked terrible. Sheppard was glad the Sonarans had given them the armour, as his chest had been largely protected from the debris. However he was covered in cuts and burns and there was a nasty piece of twisted metal shrapnel protruding from his thigh.

The laptop lay nearby, smashed and useless. The red cylinder still pulsed and did not show any sign of returning to what it should be.

Sheppard put a hand on his friend's face and tried to rouse him.

"Rodney?" Sheppard checked for a pulse, it was too fast. "Rodney? Can you hear me?"

McKay opened his eyes slightly and winced, "Hey," he said weakly. "I thought I told you earlier that coming here would mean I was going to die. But you didn't believe me did you?"

"Rodney, this scenario is different to how we found you in the future. Your ankle was fine in the other timeline."

"My ankle?" He did not realise.

"I'm sorry Rodney, it's broken."

"Oh," McKay closed his eyes and began to fade out of consciousness again.

Sheppard thought he must be in shock and the adrenaline was masking the pain at the moment. He reached an arm around McKay's shoulders and sat down next to him and leaned on the wall. He watched the pulsing red light and examined the debris surrounding them.

McKay opened his eyes again as Sheppard squeezed his shoulder gently. He looked around and saw the smashed laptop. His eyes began to water as waves of pain rolled over him emanating from his leg and ankle. He closed them and took a deep breath.

"I'm sorry John," he said quietly, "I couldn't fix it."

"Don't worry about it Rodney. Like what you said before, even the Ancients couldn't get it to work properly."

"Without my laptop, there's no way of getting the device to function properly."

McKay sighed and looked up at the ceiling, tears now streaming down his blood and dirt covered face.

"I couldn't fix it," he repeated, "I let you down. I let everyone down. Countless past and future generations of people on this planet are going to die because of me!"

"Well that's not technically true as from what you said, they will never have existed."

McKay's pain seemed to be increasing, both physically and emotionally, now that the initial shock was wearing off, "Yes, but _I_ know they existed and not ever living is as bad as killing in my mind."

"A time twisted conundrum," Sheppard laughed and felt McKay shift slightly next to him as he let out a small sigh.

The ground reverberated violently as the Wraith continued to target them. Their aim was getting better and the noise got closer and closer.

Sheppard squeezed Rodney's shoulder once more and braced himself.


	9. Destiny

Disclaimer - "Stargate" and all related characters are the property of MGM Television Entertainment.

**Chapter 9 – Destiny**

The Wraith fired on the dome their aim now perfect. The time stasis field device did not take too kindly to the impacts and within the ruined building it glowed bright red one last time. The ZPM within powered up and shone out a blinding yellow light so bright the blasted world around it lit up almost as if it was illuminated by clear sunlight.

The ZPM hummed and sang just before it finally exploded as it was hit by another Wraith weapon blast from the ship in orbit.

The very stars and worlds of the universe trembled and shook as an invisible wave passed out from the flashpoint through space and time. The timeline carefully adjusted itself to compensate and then once successfully realigned to the new and unexpected parameters, carried on as normal.

As if nothing had happened. Time continued on it's unceasing and linear course, finally unhindered.

* * *

McKay was seated and stared at his laptop impatiently. After a few moments he looked up and peered down into the Gateroom where someone was double checking the MALP. He sighed and went back to studying the database entry he had found. It had not been very hard to convince Dr Weir that they should go to this planet. Any hint of a new power source always presented its fair share of excitement and hope. He only wished that just for once, the feelings would not be in vain.

The database entry held, as usual, a woefully inadequate amount of information. It had a gate address and a few cryptic sentences about an experiment that was abandoned when the Wraith approached and forced the Ancients to retreat to defend Atlantis. The Ancients also recorded that there was a small human settlement, but there was no hint as to whether they were evacuated with the Ancients or whether they were forced to stay behind.

"We're ready Doctor Weir," the tech announced from next to the MALP.

Weir was standing next to McKay, "Are you ready Rodney?"

"Hold on," he pressed a few keys and the database entry disappeared to be replaced with several blank boxes set up to receive and analyse the MALP telemetry when it came back. "Yes. Go ahead."

"Dial it up." Weir said.

Another tech next to McKay and Weir hammered the gate symbols until the wormhole formed.

The tech who had been preparing the MALP ran up the stairs and settled himself in a seat behind McKay and Weir. The MALP slowly rolled towards the event horizon and disappeared.

"We're receiving data," McKay pressed a key and the display panel in the control room flashed up video feed.

They all watched as the video rolled over a planet and then up towards a starry sky. It was dizzying to watch and McKay had to look away after a few seconds.

"There goes another MALP," he muttered.

Weir looked at him, "Okay, it's a space gate. I still think this planet is worth checking out. Get geared up and I'll ask Colonel Sheppard, Teyla and Ronon to meet you up in the jumper bay in half an hour."

The gate shut down and McKay walked away to get ready.

* * *

The jumper burst through the gate and entered orbit above the planet.

Sheppard brought up the HUD and turned to McKay next to him.

"Any ideas where the lab is Rodney?"

McKay was looking between his laptop and the HUD.

"According to the database, the lab is located near the equator close to this mountain ridge."

He pointed up to a point on the map displayed in front of him.

"Are there any life signs or power readings?" Teyla asked.

"None that I can detect from this high up," McKay answered.

"Okay, I'll take us down." Sheppard moved the nose of the jumper down and pushed it through the atmosphere to the location McKay had indicated.

* * *

They landed in a pleasant grass field. There were trees and a few green cow-like animals ignoring them as they grazing nonchalantly nearby.

They disembarked from the jumper and looked around.

Ronon asked, "So where is it?"

McKay had his scanner out and was looking at the screen with an annoyed expression.

"I'm not detecting any power readings and the only life signs I can see are from us and our friends over there." He nodded his head towards the cows.

Sheppard was watching the cows, "How far are we from the co-ordinates in the database?"

"Not too far. It's about a mile in this direction."

He began walking and the others followed.

* * *

Teyla looked serene and happy as she walked along and took in the planet. She inhaled the clean air deeply and a smile spread across her face.

"This is very beautiful. I am surprised there are no people here."

Ronon looked around, "Yes it's strange, but I suppose it's difficult to live on a planet without a gate on the surface."

McKay stopped as the team came to a patch of uneven ground. It was still covered in grass, but looked out of place in the middle of the rolling and flat fields.

"If we've finished sight-seeing now. This is the location of the lab mentioned in the database."

Sheppard looked all around them, then at the ground and turned to McKay.

"Erm… I don't see anything Rodney."

McKay tapped on the screen of the scanner for a moment.

"That's because there's nothing left. The Wraith must have destroyed the facility when they drove the Ancients from this planet. There are no power readings. I am detecting trace metal fragments under the soil, but nothing worthy of investigation."

He looked up from the scanner and his eyes glanced over the grass covering the site of the Ancient lab. He shuddered violently.

Sheppard noticed in alarm and quickly moved over to stand next to McKay.

"What's wrong Rodney?" He asked.

"I don't know. It's like someone just walked over my grave."

The mood was suddenly tense, but Teyla broke it, "If there is nothing of worth here, perhaps we should head back to Atlantis."

McKay composed himself, "Yes good idea, I heard they have steak for lunch today. If we hurry we should be able to make it back in time. Let's grab a few samples of the flora on the way back. We can send a team of biologists out at a later date if necessary."

They walked away from the patch of uneven grass talking and laughing as a breeze passed across the fields and the grass gently swayed.

* * *

The End

A/N - Thanks for reading! I write for love and reviews are love. Please let me know what you think.


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